If I'm a Hero, Why Don't I Feel Super?
by ModernDayBard
Summary: A few months after the Reach are defeated and forced to leave earth, it's business as usual with the League and Team, including inducting new members. But all too soon a familiar face returns, bringing in his wake a new mission that hits home for the Team's newest member. (Adapted from my wwyff/wwffy on Quizilla by the same title.) Updated every Tuesday.
1. 0 Author's Note and Intro

**Hello; ModernDayBard here! Well, welcome to the first fanfic I'm writing on my own! (I have been collaborating on an Avenger's fanfic with TaliesinTaleweaver and WovenInASong, 'The Adventures of Brooklyn'.) **

**For those of you who are encountering this story for the first time, this is an adaptation of a Young Justice wwyff I was writing for Quizilla, but was cut off when that site shut down. In the end, I decided to modify it to story form (adding details, combining shorter chapters, etc.), and post it here so that it will finally be finished.**

**For those of you who followed me over from Quizilla, I am going back to the beginning instead of just picking up with the last quiz published, so that new readers don't get lost. Yes, I know the last update ended on a cliff-hanger, and we were over ¾ of the way done, but I cannot bring myself to simply pick up where we left off, since it's possible that new readers may find the story, and I don't want to confuse them. And yes, in story form I can only write one of the five 'paths' at a time, so as I said in my last update, this will be Nicole's (A5/NW result) story. If your result followed a different path and you want to know how that ended let me know and I will (if there's enough interest) post the other 'paths' and their endings.**

**Alright, with that aside, I'm going to go over a few need-to-know notes about my writing philosophy behind this story. In terms of time setting, this story takes place a few months to a year after the season 2 finale. My philosophy when writing fan-fiction is that the fanfic must abide by established cannon of the source material unless it is specifically written as a 'what would happen if...' (DISCLAIMER: This is just how I write. I'm not saying it's the only correct way; I actually enjoy reading fanfics that redo or undo events of the source material. I just do it this way because it's easier for me.) Anyways, because of this philosophy, I will respect all events of both seasons including tragic demises and established couples (although, if some were implied but not stated, it's possible I may have overlooked them—I'm not always as observant as I like to be).**

**I think that's everything that needs to be covered before we get into the story proper, so read on!**


	2. 1 Looking Backward, Looking Forward

**Well, time to kick off the story proper! Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or any of their characters—just my oc's. **

"Pack the bag—we're running away. I've been planning it for weeks."

At her older brother's words, the red-headed girl looked up, startled blue eyes meeting serious green ones. Her sixteen-year-old brother stood in the doorway, his own backpack already slung over his shoulder. The twelve-year-old began to comply quietly, asking only, "Why?"

"Because—" Karl began, then faltered. After a deep breath, he blurted out in a hushed tone: "Because Nikki, the Williamsons don't want us anymore, and the system is running out of families that'll take two of us. They—they're planning to split us up."

Nicole froze for a moment at the news, then resumed packing with renewed urgency, gathering up the few necessities as the blonde-haired young man continued. "I'm not gonna let that happen, Nikki. I promised you a long time ago that I'd take care of you. So that's what I'm going to do now. Let's go."

With those final two words, the two siblings slipped out of the house and into the night. For a few weeks, they lived as runaways: bouncing from town to city to town, trying to stay under the radar and avoid detection. Nicole's faith in her brother was absolute, and seemed in that time well-founded.

In the last city, though, the two siblings began to feel eyes upon them, and the sense of impending danger kept growing. They made up their minds to flee once more, but before they could, they were seized by unknown enemies, taken away...

...Separated.

Nicole Zilareko managed to pull herself out of the combination dream and flashback by sheer force of will, and for a moment the eighteen year old lay in her bed, trying to get herself back under control before she went downstairs to face her mentor and legal guardian, Marjorie Peterson. The redhead could feel the tear tracks on her cheek as the AC began to cool the moisture, and she sat up slowly, trying to wrestle her mind back to the present.

Something was special about today, but she couldn't remember what. It wasn't high school graduation—that'd been over a week before—and she was pretty sure she wasn't scheduled to work today at the bookstore. In fact, she was pretty sure she'd requested the day off.

_*But why would I do that?*_

Nicole was pretty sure her mind would 'kick into gear' soon and provide her with the answer, but before it did, Marji's voice called out from the first floor: "Ember! You have to start getting ready!"

At Marji's command, Nicole instinctively began to scramble out of bed, a part of her wondering why she'd been addressed by her 'hero name' when she wasn't suited up. Then her mind caught up with her body, and she began moving even faster, unable to resist a sarcastic quip. "I have to start—do I have to finish?"

She didn't wait for the response that she figured she wouldn't get anyway, her blue eyes dancing with excitement as she remembered why the day was so important...

_*That's right—the ceremony is today!*_ At long last, Silver—Marji's 'hero identity'—was being inducted into the Justice League that day. Nicole, who'd been Marji's ward and Silver's protégé since the age of fourteen and a half, couldn't have been more excited for the young woman who could control moonlight.

Nicole was still a little groggy as she stumbled down the stairs of the town house the two lived in, but she felt confident that she'd soon achieve full wakefulness. Once she made it to the kitchen, she encountered Marji, already in her outfit as 'Silver', in the middle of assembling a quick breakfast before the two of them would head to DC for the ceremony.

"Already suited up, I see." Nicole took a moment to take in the silver, grey, and white costume, albeit, sans the mask Marji usually wore. She had to admit, it went well with Marji's pale skin and dark hair—yes, her mentor would make quite the impression.

Marji nodded in acknowledgement of Nicole's comment, but either excitement, preoccupation, or a full mouth prevented her from responding. The teenage girl wasn't fazed by this, though, as the two knew each other well enough at that point to be comfortable in silence. And anyway, today _was_ kind of a big deal for her mentor.

In following routine, the two drifted around each other in the small kitchen, going from cabinet to counter, fridge to toaster and microwave in a seemingly choreographed routine. Eventually, Nicole had gathered her usual breakfast of a green pear and toast spread with Nutella—_and_ coffee, of course.

Hero and sidekick ate in silence, each caught up in their thoughts, expectations, and worries for the coming day. Nicole swallowed the final bite of toast before draining the rest of her coffee mug in a few gulps. Now finished, the redhead sprang from the table and dashed back up to her room on the second floor to finish getting ready for the ceremony.

_*After all, we __both__ need to leave a good impression today—me as much as Marji.*_

First things first: Nicole made straight for the bathroom, hurriedly rushing her teeth to get rid of her 'coffee breath', washing her face, then applying simple makeup: just some foundation, a touch of eye shadow, and a little mascara. Finally, she turned her attention to her hair, grimacing at the amount of effort it took to wrestle the shoulder-length curls into something resembling a bun.

With that complete, she returned to her room to get dressed. On instinct, she began to reach for her 'Ember' costume, then she stopped. As far as the flame-wielder knew, she had no official part to play in the ceremony, so it seemed logical to assume that she'd be there as 'herself; instead of her hero identity. Still...

"Formal occasion, formal attire—right?" Nicole called down the stairs.

Marji didn't reply at first, but eventually her answer became audible: "Honestly, I don't know. The League never said what they expected you to wear or where they expected you to be." She paused, then continued, "Come to think of it, they _did_ mention that the Team has their own sort of event on induction day, and I've never seen them at other ceremonies, so maybe you'll expected to be with them."

_That_ revelation provided more questions than answers for the sidekick. "Wait—So am I going as 'Ember' or 'Nicole'?"

"I have no idea."

_*How helpful.*_

Thus, Nicole was left to her own devices to figure out how she should dress for what was arguably the biggest day in her life since joining up with Silver.

_*Maybe only 'Silver' is being inducted into the League, but the Team is getting 'Nicole' as well as 'Ember'. I'll go as myself, then, and not worry about whether that's the 'right' choice.*_

Her decision reached, Nicole turned to her closet, carefully considering before she pulled out a nice read blouse, her black jeans, and her favorite pair of black-and-red converse sneakers. Red was one of her favorite colors, in addition to being the most prominent color in her 'Ember' costume, so she thought it a fitting choice. Besides—she liked how it contrasted with the black. To complement the outfit, Nicole picked a pair of simple red earrings and a black and red necklace.

Finally dressed and accessorized, she headed downstairs once more. Once she reached the doorway to the kitchen, the red-haired fire-wielder stopped, noticing her mentor was just sitting at the small table, her face a picture of nerves. Nicole then realized: however big the day was for her, it was _huge_ for her mentor.

Crossing over to the woman who was sometimes more an older sister than a parent-figure, Nicole laid a hand on her shoulder, saying with a kind smirk, "Relax, Marji. It's not like the League is going to change their mind. And congrats in advance."

At her protégé's blunt but not unkind reassurance, Silver managed a smile at last, and the two of them were finally ready to head to DC for the induction ceremony.


	3. 2 Induction and Initiation

**Hello, ModernDayBard here! I decided to upload every Wednesday, but I want to post early this week (Essentially i'm waiting for some big news and I'm too nervous to sit still and do nothing, so I'm going to go ahead and post.) Of course, I don't own Young Justice or any of the characters connected with the show...just my Oc's.**

As per the instructions given to Silver, Marji and Nicole approach the newly-rebuilt Hall of Justice from the back in order to avoid the growing crowd and the mass of reporters and news crews. Nicole craned her neck to take it in, noting how much it resembled the previous structure..._and_ how fast it had been built. With a crooked grin, Nicole couldn't resist the thought: _*I guess that they can work fast when they have superpowers...*_

Once they reached the back, however, both mentor and protégé hesitated, uncertain of where they were supposed to be. After only a moment of discomfort, they spotted two figures emerging form a small back door and heading straight for them. One was a blonde woman in a black leotard, tights, and boots with a blue jacket. The other was a tall, dark-skinned young man with light hair and silver eyes, wearing a two-tone blue jacket despite the warm day.

Nicole recognized them as Black Canary and Aqualad—the current leaders of the League and Team, respectively. As the four exchanged warm greetings, it was not lost on Nicole that Aqualad was in his civilian outfit, just like she was.

_*_ _I love that the heroes have to dress up, but the sidekicks can be comfortable.*_

Quickly, the four made their way inside before any ambitious reporters thought to come around the building in their search for an 'exclusive scoop'. Nicole was not a shy person normally, but she liked to get a feel of a group's dynamic before she forced her way in, so she held her tongue as she and Silver followed their guides.

Soon, Black Canary stopped and turned. "Silver, you and I will be heading out to join the others outside. Ember, Aqualad will lead you to where the rest of the Team is."

Nicole nodded in understanding, and grinned at her mentor encouragingly. "See ya later, Silver!" Then she turned to follow Aqualad down a side hallway. At first, neither seemed inclined to break the silence. Nicole tried to split her attention: taking in the brief impression she got of the Hall while simultaneously trying to get a read on Aqualad. Eventually, the silence grew uncomfortable, and as it seemed he was waiting for her to speak, the red-haired girl summoned the courage, defaulting on the first subject of conversation that had popped into her mind.

"You guys sure got this place built fast, Aqualad."

The Atlantean turned back to her with a friendly, welcoming smile. "Please, we're off-duty, Ember. Call me Kaldur'ahm. Actually, my friends call me Kaldur."

"Kaldur it is, then," Nicole replied, returning the smile and feeling a lot less nervous.

Before Kaldur could respond, the two had reached 'the common room' where the Team—the _whole_ Team—was waiting. A large screen was tuned to one of the news report of the ceremony, but since the induction hadn't begun just yet, the young heroes mostly ignored it, scattered about the room in clumps, talking and laughing. For a moment, Nicole hesitated in the doorway, unnoticed in the clamor.

She heard the buzz of conversation faded as the Team became aware of her presence. Fourteen heroes—all in 'civilian clothes'—turned to face her. For all her bravado, the red-haired fire-wielder felt her status as the 'new girl' pretty acutely. She glanced instinctively back at Aqualad, who nodded encouragingly to her. Suddenly, Nicole felt foolish—this was her new team; they were on her side!

_*There's no need to be intimidated; I'm one of them, now!*_ Thusly bolstered, she grinned at the room in general, defaulting to her natural humor as she shrugged nonchalantly and said: "We're all new at one point. I guess today's just my turn."

Her witticism earned her a friendly chuckle from the assembled sidekicks and heroes. Rather than rush her all at once, they approached in clumps and groups, for which Nicole was grateful. As outgoing as she may have seemed to some, she had some introverted tendencies, including preferring to meet new people in smaller groups as opposed to an overwhelming crowd.

The first group of three to introduce themselves was led by a green-skinned young woman whose auburn hair was in a pixie cut. She was followed by an equally green boy who looked like he'd been crossed with a monkey and a young man with black hair and startling blue eyes. Nicole had gone over the Team roster with Silver a few days before, so she was able to place a least these three: Miss Martian, Beast Boy, and Superboy. Superboy stayed back a bit, arms crossed over a black Superman T-Shirt, but Miss Martian came right up to the new girl.

"Hi there! I'm M'Gann, this is Gar, and that's Connor! Welcome to the Team!"

"Hi, M'Gann!" Nicole responded, unable to keep from smiling at the enthusiastic greeting, even as she was surprised that the Team would be so willing to go to first-names basis already. She decided to respond in kind, as Marji had told her she planned to do with the League. "I'm Nicole!"

Nicole heard a small chuckle behind her and turned to face an African-American girl about her own height, with a pixie cut similar to M'Gann's. She offered the new girl a friendly smile and the words, "Welcome to the Team, Nicole. I'm Karen."

The tall, strongly-built young man behind Karen put a hand on her shoulder and gave Nicole a warm smile. "And I'm Mal. You're gonna do great."

"Thanks Mal, Karen. I'm really glad to be here." And it wasn't a platitude, either. As hesitant as she and Marji had been when first approached with the respective offers to join the League and Team (the loss of their absolute privacy and self-reliance was a frightening prospect, to say the least), they'd rallied to the idea eventually, deciding that the benefits outweighed the harms. Now that she'd finally begun to meet the other young heroes, Nicole was in no ways regretting their choice.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the arrival of an odd humanoid-fish who smirked in a not-unfriendly but still vaguely-unsettling way, offering a very formal greeting: "I look forward to fighting by your side, warrior."

Nicole blinked in surprise. "Um, thanks..." she managed, trying to determine if the greeting was stiff from resentment or simple, well-intended awkwardness. Before she could reach a definite conclusion, the speaker drifted away, and Karen laid a hand on Nicole's shoulder.

"I wouldn't worry about what he meant by that. Sometimes, La'gonn can be...Well, La'gonn. I _think_ he actually meant that, or he could have been just being polite...And, here comes two complimentary opposites. Brace yourself."

The fire-wielder turned in the direction Karen indicated to see two girls, one blonde and the other a red head like Nicole, approaching. The blonde, who wore a wonder-woman tank top and what looked like red workout pants all but flew up to the new arrival, an exuberant grin on her face. "Hi! I'm Cassie!"

"And I'm Barbara," her friend added in a much calmer voice, tucking her hands into the pockets of her blue-and-white jacket.

"Hey! I'm starting to feel a bit like a broken record, but I guess that's to be expected on introduction day. I'm Nicole." As she finished speaking, she saw a young man with short black hair and dark sunglasses, wearing a red jacket over a white t-shirt come up and take Cassie's hand.

Nicole pretended not to notice when the blonde girl nudged the young man, but it seemed to serve its intended purpose. He nodded to the newest member of the Team, smiling crookedly. "Sorry. I'm Ro—Tim."

_*Ten down, four to go...*_ Nicole mused, making eye contact with the last girl, a blonde young woman who seemed to be close to M'Gann and Karen in age.

Meeting the red-haired girl's gaze, the young woman smiled. "I'm Artemis." Then, with a gesture to the three figures slightly behind her: "And these clowns—"

She was cut off as suddenly three boys around the age of sixteen began to clamber over themselves to greet the new (and admittedly pretty) girl. "I'm Bart—" "—Jaime—" "—Virgil!"

Nicole couldn't help chuckling as she introduced herself one final time, but she made a mental note to let them down as gently as possible as soon as she could. _*I'm not looking for a boyfriend, and besides, I'm eighteen...besides, even if I __was__ interested in dating someone, they're a bit too young...*_

Just as all the attention and introductions began to reach the threshold of 'overwhelming' for Nicole, the official induction ceremony began, serving effectively to focus all attention back on the screen. In total, five heroes were being added to the League's roster that day, but as Silver was the only one with a sidekick or protégé, Nicole knew she was the only new addition to the Team.

As she watched the ceremony unfold, Marji's protégé found a question distracting her. After figuring out how to carefully phrase it, she asked in a quiet voice that only Kaldur, M'Gann, and Connor (the three standing nearest her) could hear, "Isn't the Team on equal footing with the League now?"

The three senior members of the Team seemed to understand, exchanging what Nicole assumed to be a significant look, but Kaldur's response to her questioned turned out to be nothing more than another question. "Nicole, would you feel comfortable with the attention that would come from being out there?"

Before she answered, she watched the reports shout, listening to their sometimes _extremely_ pointed questions. "I'd probably embarrass or insult everyone in five minutes," Nicole admitted honestly. "I'm not exactly used to dealing with press." That's when Aqualad's unspoken answer clicked in her mind: the others _could_ have been out there with their mentors now that the League and Team were pretty much equals. Instead, they were waiting here, still out of the public's eye, for her, so she wouldn't be alone.

She scanned the room again, with new eyes, and noticed that the whole Team had focused their attention on her once again. Bart grinned a little sheepishly as she said, "Well, Nicole, it is _your_ induction day, too. We figured you should have a party as well."

"Well, that's one way to make the new girl feel welcome!" Nicole responded eagerly.

The Team exchanged grins at her reaction, and Gar charged out of the room, calling back over his shoulder: "Come one! We've got everything set up in the other room! The League will even come after the ceremony is over—well, some of them anyway."

Laughing, she followed the young boy and the rest of her new team, her new...family.

Soon, the party was in full swing, the Team once more scattered in 'conversation clumps' all around the cheerily decorated room. Nicole allowed herself to relax and begin taking in the group dynamic, though she also made it a point to enjoy the party. She found herself grabbing a plate of food at the same time as Bart, and chuckled to herself at the amount of food he'd managed to pile on to his plate.

"Nicole—"

At the voice behind her, the redhead jumped slightly, then turned to see Virgil standing behind her, now looking apologetic.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I thought you'd heard me coming."

Embarrassed that she'd been caught off-guard, Nicole blushed and responded, "Guess I was lost in thought." Then, in an attempt to brush the incident aside: "Did you need something?"

"You were just standing here by yourself, so I was just coming over to talk to you—to make you feel welcome."

"Oh." Her previous resolution to let the three 'clowns' (as Artemis had termed them) down gently resurged, choking any other reply she may have had as she suddenly felt very uncertain. With that, silence descended over the two.

Virgil made a valiant stab at conversation "The League will be here after the press conference wraps up." When Nicole didn't respond, his face fell, then his expression changed to one of concern. "Nicole, are you okay? You seem a bit...well, overwhelmed."

Determined not to be rude, the fire-powered girl replied, "Sorry, I'm just getting a feel of the group dynamic." She nodded at the room, indicating the Team as they chatted, laughed, and generally relaxed.

"Oh, you mean like trying to figure out how good a leader Aqualad is by how talks to everyone without showing favorites?" Virgil asked.

"Exactly!" Nicole affirmed, having just noted the same thing for herself. "Or that Mal and Karen have been a couple a lot longer than Tim and Cassie have, based on how they interact."

"Or that M'Gann's all but adopted Gar by how she bosses him around?"

"Or Bart regularly indulges his incredibly high metabolism, since no one seems surprised that he's already going back for seconds."

"What else do you expect from the new Kid Flash? Honestly, I'm surprise it took him this long to finish his first plate."

With that, both Virgil and Nicole began laughing, and somehow the older girl could tell that the dynamic had shifted to one of just friends. Maybe she'd misread the cues that had made her believe he'd been romantically interested at all? If that was the case, she was _glad_ she hadn't said anything.

Just as the two managed to stop laughing, they became aware that the room had grown very, very quiet as conversations died off one-by-one. At first, Nicole had the very uncomfortable impression that everyone was staring at her. She was about to ask if she'd done something wrong, when a male voice behind her said, "Looks like I've cashed a party."

The new girl spun on her heel to face the new comer. She found herself facing a tall, black-haired young man who was leaning casually against the door frame. She'd never met him in person, but the uniform was recognizable as that of Nightwing—the temporary leader of the Team who'd supposedly gone solo a few months before.

_*So what is he doing here now?*_

For two heartbeats, the room was silent. It didn't last, as the Team seemed rally from the shock and let loose their questions at once.

"Nightwing!"

"Where have you been?"

"Did you come back for the ceremony?"

"Are you rejoining the Team?"

Nicole held her tongue, chuckling internally at how easily she'd been thrust out of the limelight of the Team's attention—not that she minded! It took some time, but Nightwing and Kaldur managed at last to restore order and quiet the other thirteen young heroes down. Once it was quiet enough to hear normal speech, Nightwing's gaze finally rested on Nicole, as if noticing her for the first time.

It was hard to tell his expression behind his mask, but his tone was carefully guarded and casual when he spoke. "I heard Silver had a sidekick. Guess that's you?"

Something about his manner of speaking made her feel defensive, so she let sarcasm slip into her tone even as she gave an honest answer. "That's right—I'm Ember."

The two faced each other, arms crossed and matching unreadable expressions. Before the returning hero could respond, Kaldur prompted him. "Something brought you back, my friend; what was it?"

Nightwing returned his attention to the Team as he answered, "A mission I need your help with." The Team leaned in to listen as the detective continued. "There's a new gang of super-criminals I've been tracking, but it turns out the network is wider and deeper than I initially thought. It really is a new group—they aren't connected to anyone we've fought before."

At that revelation, a low murmur ran through the assembled heroes. Nicole knew that it would be only a few seconds before Nightwing would be bombarded by questions once more. Before her mind caught up with her mouth, she voiced her question first, blurting out: "Who's behind it all?"

Nightwing's gaze rested on her once more, but instead of guarded and almost suspicious, his expression was both exasperated and embarrassed. "I...don't know. This is a completely new group, and hard to pin down."

"Well, questions keep the investigation going," Ember answered, trying to offer the olive branch. Before she could tell if it was received, the others began to voice their questions as she predicted. Nicole only half-listened to the clamor, choosing instead to muse over what Nightwing had revealed so far.

_*He doesn't know who the leader is...'gang of super-criminals'...is the terminology a coincidence, or is it _him_?*_

She was jarred from her thoughts as more people filed into the room—several members of the League, including Silver. They'd been laughing and joking as they made their way to the party, but as they entered the room and picked up on the tense atmosphere, they quieted.

Nicole stood apart from the crowd, out of earshot, but she could tell by the reactions to both Nightwing's presence and his quiet words that he was explaining his return and the mission once more. She let her gaze rest on Silver, waiting for her reaction as if for confirmation. Ember's mentor kept her face carefully blank, but for a moment, she glanced over and met her protégé's eye. At the first opportunity, Silver unobtrusively drifted over to where Nicole stood alone.

"What do you make of this?" Nicole asked at last.

Silver didn't respond at first, and mentor and protégé stood side by side, looking at the two groups they were now respective members of. Finally, the older woman glanced at the girl beside her, saying seemingly offhandedly: "So, not the welcome we expected—huh?"

"Hazards of the trade," was Nicole's glib reply.

Playacting aside, Marji gave Nicole a genuine smile at that response, and the two felt that once more, they have the feeling of being on 'familiar ground'—the two of them often having such pseudo-cynical conversations.

"Well, then," Silver said quietly, "to work!"

Nicole returned her mentor's grin. "Let's get started."


	4. 3 Getting the Feel of Things

**Hello! ModernDayBard, again! I know I said i'd post on Wednesdays, but looking at my schedule for this and next semester, it just makes sense to update on Tuesdays instead. Of course, I don't own Young justice, just my Oc's.**

The day after her interrupted induction party, Nicole returned to the Hall of Justice, now in 'hero costume', as per Aqualad's instructions. Eager to prove or earn her place on the Team, she'd offered to help in any way she could with the investigation, but the Atlantean insisted that, during the early stages of the investigation, the best way that she could help was to become familiar with the Team and their current set up and ways of operating. She supposed that it made sense, but she still couldn't suppress the thought that she'd been relegated to the sidelines in part because Nightwing seemed to not trust her.

As Nicole approach the Hall of Justice (from the back, same as the day before) she tried to shove her slightly bitter thoughts aside, especially when she saw that someone was coming towards her. That someone turned out to be none other than Artemis, though now the blonde young woman was in her 'hero costume,' allowing Nicole to realize that the slightly older girl she'd met the day before was one and the same as the supposedly new hero who'd she'd heard about in the past few months: Tigress.

"Good morning, Ember," Tigress said, nodding as she took in Nicole's red-orange-and-black 'hero outfit'. "Aqualad asked me to show you around the Hall and explain the Team's current squad situation."

Ember nodded to indicate that she understood, but didn't feel the need to say anything as she followed Artemis into the Hall. As the two continued walking, Tigress continued her explanation with a bit of backstory. "For the longest time, the squads were always changing, depending on the needs of each mission. Since the Reach incident, however, we formed four squads with set rosters: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. We only shift the rosters around if a particular mission requires a certain skill set."

This piqued Nicole's curiosity enough for her to interrupt. "So, what squad am I on, now?"

"Aqualad hasn't assigned you yet," Tigress said with a shrug.

Ember decided not to let it bother her. "Well, he did get unexpectedly busy with a new mission."

Artemis nodded in acknowledgment of Nicole's assessment, and finally stopped walking to give the red head an inquisitive look. "Ember, you _have_ already taken the 'tourist tour' of the Hall—right?"

"Yeah," was her unenthusiastic response. "It was kind of boring, though."

"Good," Tigress replied, "I'll just show you the important parts, then."

Grey eyes met blue ones for a second, before both girls broke into matching grins at the same time.

Nicole couldn't resist a chuckle as she agreed with her guide. "It _was_ pretty bare-bones." The two girls warmed up to each other even more during the tour of the 'behind the scenes' portions of the hall: Kitchen, gym, library, etc. Ember did her best to take it all in, silently noting landmarks to aid in quick navigation for later, but she wasn't afraid to ask Artemis questions if something didn't make sense, or if she thought she missed something. By the end of the Tour, the newer girl felt that she'd made at least one more friend on the Team already.

By the time that the tour ended in a common room-like area similar to the room for the party the day before, with the addition of two Zeta tubes at the back, there was one question Nicole knew that she had to have answered. "Artemis, I thought Silver and I had been told that both the League and Team operated out of the Watchtower?"

"We do," Tigress answered with a curt nod. "But not everyone's up there all the time. We usually have at least one squad 'on duty' there; you'll be shown around up there later. Also, some of the Team members who used to live in the Cave now have apartments here."

Glancing around the common room, Ember realized that it wasn't empty. She noticed Mal and Karen, now in their respective Guardian and Bumblebee outfits, talking to one side. La'gonn lazed on the couch, watching TV, and Nightwing stood at bank of computers, evidently hard at work. She glanced sideways at Tigress with a quizzical expression.

"Beta squad," she offered by way of explanation. Then, as if sensing this had raised more questions than it answered, she continued: "We actually have two squads on duty at any given time—the one on the Watchtower is the primary response squad, but there's also a squad in the Hall that's 'on call'. Beta's due to head on up to the Watchtower any moment now to relieve Delta, who will be coming back here. That's my squad, by the way."

Her questions now answered, Nicole turned back to the room in time to see Guardian and Bumblebee approaching them. "Hey, Ember—welcome back!" Mal calls in his deep, booming, friendly voice.

Karen flew up to Ember and hugged her in greeting, then asked, "What do you think of the Hall?"

"Hey, guys!" Nicole said in greeting. In answer to Bumblebee, she admitted, "Once you get past the Tourist trap part, it's actually pretty cool."

To her surprise, La'gonn actually tore himself away from the TV long enough to repeat his sentiment from the day before. "Ember, I look forward to the chance to battle alongside you. I've heard tell of your prowess in combat."

The flame-wielder wondered at the fact that his formal tone and greeting hadn't altered since their first meeting, which cast some doubt as to their sincerity in her mind. Also—was he really so battle-obsessed? Out of curiosity, she spared a glance at the program he was watching. _*A cooking show? That's it—I'm never really going to understand this guy.*_ Still, she supposed she should be polite. "I'm whelmed by the sentiment, La'gonn, trust me."

For some reason, the four standing near her gave her an odd look at the quip. Nicole supposed she'd have to explain it eventually—she'd had the joke with Silver for so long, she sometimes accidentally sprung it on people who hadn't heard the set up. After a moment of silence, Karen turned on the room's only other occupant, a hand on her hip. "Nightwing!" she called in a voice as sharp as sharp as a bee sting. "Are you even going to say 'hello'?"

"I'm a little busy!" he snapped in a frustrated tone. As Bumblebee made a disgusted sound in her throat (that sounded to Nicole a bit like a growl) Nightwing looked up, met Ember's eye, and deadpanned, "Hello," before pointedly returning to his work at the computer bank.

Nicole scowled at the detective's back, determined to confront him and demand an explanation for his cold treatment, but before any comment could be made on his inexplicably rude behavior, the tense moment was interrupted by the Zeta tubes activating. The computer announced the new arrivals, revealing to Nicole that the other members of Tigress's squad are none other than Kid Flash, Blue Beetle, and Static. Or, as she'd met them the day before: Bart, Jaime, and Virgil.

The room was momentarily thrown into noisy confusion by the new arrivals, especially as Beta began to prepare to take their place on the Watchtower. Before quiet had a chance to descend Kid Flash ran up to Ember as she stood by Artemis. Breathlessly, the young speedster called out a greeting. "Hey, Ember! Have you been assigned to a squad yet? Maybe...Delta?"

"Not yet," Nicole answered with a laugh. "But it'd be great to be on a squad where I'm wanted," she couldn't resist adding with an injured glare at Nightwing's back as he entered the Zeta tubes. She couldn't really explain it, but something about his rude behavior really rubbed her the wrong way.

Nicole wasn't really sure what to do now; it seemed her tour was over and she wasn't going to be seeing the Watchtower today. Chafing at the delay, she dourly wondered if she'd ever be considered a full member of the Team at this rate. She tried not to let these thoughts show as she chatted with the boys, choosing to focus instead on observing their group dynamic: Kid Flash was impulsive and high-energy, but Jaime seemed able to calm him down sometimes, in addition to providing a calming counter-balance to Bart's energy. Meanwhile, Virgil seemed as amused by the interplay between them as Nicole herself as he idly ran an electrical spark over and around his fingers.

_*Hmm. Bart and Jaime are obviously best friends that have been through a lot together, but Virgil's almost as new here as I am. Not quite so new, because he seems at least comfortable with his position in the group, even if he's not as close to some of the others yet. Still, they've definitely accepted him.*_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Tigress's approach. "Hey, Ember, Delta had planned to do some combat training before heading home. You want to join us?"

It didn't require a moment's thought.

"Right behind you!" Nicole called.

* * *

><p>Once they arrived on the Watchtower, Nightwing peeled off from the rest of Beta, pulling up his work on the satellite's computers and picking right up where he left off. Karen and Mal met each other's gaze, then rolled their eyes in unison. La'gonn drifted away to do his own thing, but Bumblebee lay a hand on her boyfriend's arm.<p>

Mal looked at her, not voicing his question, but she understood it anyway. "I was just wondering—what do you make of Nicole?" Karen finally said.

Guardian paused to consider carefully before voicing his opinion of the Team's newest member. "She's really smart. I caught that 'whelmed' remark earlier; I think she plays with words almost as much—and in much the same way—as Nightwing does."

Bumblebee nodded in agreement. "I get the sense that the two of them are going to be either best friends or worst enemies—possibly both."

Meanwhile, La'gonn kept replaying Ember's reply to his greeting in his mind. _*Was she mocking me? I get the feeling she was mocking me.*_

The solitary detective at computer bank tried to focus on his work, but he couldn't shake the memory of the livid expression on Ember's face when he'd (partially) unwittingly insulted her. _*Nicole looked ready to deck me after I was so rude. I don't think she's one to underestimate.*_


	5. 4 Friends and Family

**Hello, ModernDayBard here! No big news, and I still don't own Young Justice and the associated characters, just my Oc's!**

Nicole was unable to restrain a slight groan as she awoke the next morning. Tigress had worked Delta squad and Ember quite hard in their training session the day before. Still, it'd been a good time, and the memory of the fun and teambuilding time made her feel that it was worth it.

_*And it's impressive that Tigress can make me feel like this, given how often and how hard I train with Silver.* _Despite the pain, the main emotion the thought triggered in Nicole's mind was excitement. The Team was going to push her to become stronger, just like Marji did. Speaking of...

_*Silver's definitely going to want to train today, since it's rare I get a day off, now that I've got the job __and__ the Team. So, no 'Ember' outfit for now, but I'll need to be able to move easily.*_ Translation: Red t-shirt over a black tank top, with black workout pants and sneakers.

Now dressed, the young hero was ready to engage once more with the world beyond the shelter of her room—namely, by going downstairs to the dinning nook/kitchen area of the town house. At the table, Marji was already seated, nursing her first cup of coffee of the morning.

"Only your first cup?" The teen observed with a teasing glint in her blue eyes. "So, I'm addressing Marji the zombie, then." She was, so, of course, there was no reply, unless one counted her mentor taking another long sip of the revitalizing black liquid.

As her mentor was seated and quite out of the way, Nicole did not have to dodge her as she attempted to assemble breakfast. Knowing, however, that Marji would emerge from her stupor long enough to lecture if she felt her protégé's meal was not sufficiently balanced, Nicole decided to go for the combination she dubbed 'breakfast in a bowl': oatmeal with assorted nuts and raisins mixed in, seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice.

As soon as it was cool enough to not scald her mouth and throat, Nicole began to eat as quickly as she could. She timed it well, for, almost as soon as she finished eating, Marji had finished her second cup and had achieved both alertness and comprehend-ability.

The two had worked together for almost four years, and knew each other well enough that words were often unnecessary, so when Marji stood, all it took was one look, and Nicole knew the plan. The two made their way down to the basement, which had been modified into a practice room that could withstand both of their power types.

Once downstairs, Marji, also dressed for training, turned to her protégé. "We'll just do a basic review today—nothing too strenuous. We'll start with unarmed, then move to armed, and wrap up with our powers. Basic combat—okay?"

"You got it!" Ember replied, slipping into her fighting stance.

Almost before she was ready, Nicole saw he mentor aiming a kick at her head, and moved to block it with her left forearm, grateful that they were in 'training mode': normal speed, but with only half the force behind any of the blows. Ember let her mentor get three attacks in before she finally did something other than block or dodge.

After avoiding a strike aimed at her sternum, Nicole moved quickly to the right, trying to get into her mentor's blind spot before dropping low and trying to sweep Marji's legs out from under her. Silver was anticipating this however and jumped clear of the attack, forcing Ember to roll away before the older hero could pin her. As the next flurry of strikes, kicks, blocks, dodges, and agile maneuvers testified, the two were very evenly matched. Their fighting style was a blend of various martial arts styles, plus some boxing, and it played more to both of their natural speed and agility, since neither was stronger than average for their build. For the most part, Nicole was keeping up well, but occasionally the soreness from the day before would flare up. The teenager did her best to push on, but had to admit to herself that it was slowing her down...if only slightly.

_*I'm __really__ going to be sore tomorrow. Oh, well.*_

Still, as the sparring match went on, her muscles relaxed more, and she was better able to concentrate. Finally, Silver signaled a halt. "Let's switched to armed now. What do you want to work with today?"

The two trained with a variety of weapons so that they would be able to improvise whenever the situation or mission called for it. "How about we practice with our usual?" Nicole offered.

"Sounds good," Marji replied, grabbing her favorite staff—a five-foot long metal pole that could be dangerous enough on its own, but even more so when the hero channeled her moonlight powers through it.

Nicole picked up a pair of red-and-black gloves with reinforced knuckles, finger guards, and a guard for the back of her hands as well. The scratches and scuffs on the material and guards testified to the fact that they were Ember's go-to combat option. Silver chuckled as her protégé slipped on the gloves. "I still say those stretch the definition of 'armed combat' almost to the breaking point.

"Hey, it suits me the best," Nicole said, shrugging slightly. Her gloves now securely on, Nicole took the time to examine them before she took a single step towards the ring where her mentor now waited. "Hm. Going to have to make a new pair soon. Or at least go back through and re-secure the guards...and clean them up...they're starting to look pretty shabby."

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about you outgrowing another pair, I think we've gone through your last growth spurt. Anyway, would you quit worrying about your appearance and start training?"

"Yes, ma'am," Nicole chirped before leaping into the ring and grabbing for Silver's staff, intending to pull it out of the light-wielder's grasp.

Marji was surprised that her protégé had made the first attack, but recovered quickly enough to counter. Nicole had to release her hold and duck, but used the opportunity to get under her mentor's guard, between the hero and her staff. From that position, it was a matter of two quick blows to pressure points on her mentor's arms to force Silver to drop the staff. Before Marji could recover, Nicole had her pinned.

"Where'd you get that move?" Marji asked as Nicole helped her up.

Ember grinned at the other young woman. "Did some training at the Hall yesterday. Saw Batgirl use that move on Robin, and I figured it would work just as well on you, especially if you weren't expecting it. Care to give it another go?"

"So the first attack was a feint of sorts? You knew I'd counter. Nice." Silver shook her head slightly, filing the events of the match away for later sessions. "Actually, let's take a quick lunch break. Then we'll come back for another few rounds before moving on to working with our powers. Sound good?"

After lunch, Marji won the next two armed-combat sparring matches. Nicole shrugged ruefully. Silver _did _have more experience—that's why she was the mentor and Ember the protégé—so she often had to rely on new tricks the light-wielder didn't know if she wanted to beat her mentor.

_*And those only work once. Ah, well. One of these days...*_

"Good work, Nicole. Let's work on our powers now. I noticed last time you were having trouble maintaining a sustained blaze over your fists. Have you been working on your endurance?"

Nicole nodded, thinking of the hours she'd spent trying to increase the amount of time she could hold the blaze. Honestly, it was almost easier in real combat situations—in training, she was trying _not_ to burn Marji. The red head took a quick swig from her water bottle, then put it down and joined her mentor in the ring. The particular combination of their powers—light and fire—meant that any sparring match between the two looked like an elaborate dance and lightshow, all though occasional, shouts, groans, and well-meaning taunts would shatter the illusion for anyone observing.

As the training wound down, Nicole had to smile a little at the results of the various matches. The two were almost dead-even when it came to unarmed, as usual, although Marji had a bit of an edge that day, given Nicole's stiffness; Silver won two out of three armed sparring matches, and frankly the only surprising thing about that was that Ember had managed to steal even one win; and Nicole maintained her winning streak in the light-versus-fire battle.

_*Well, we complement each other's strengths and compensate for any weaknesses.*_

With training finally declared over, mentor and protégé took a few minutes to clean up the room. No matter how careful Nicole tried to be, the walls of the training area were always covered in soot after she used her powers for an extended period of time. Since it was _her_ mess, Ember concentrated on scrubbing the walls while Silver put the room back in general order. The two were exhausted after a long day of training, but that didn't stop them from bantering.

"You get much better at that, Nicole, and you could get a job as a chimney sweep," Marji called as the teenager finally removed the last black marks from the now permanently grey-ish walls.

Nicole returned the grin, saying in a mock-serious tone, "Well, if I ever have a midlife crisis, I know what career to look into!"

Marji laughed, grateful that that day, at least, had been care-free—a depressingly rare treat for the two heroes in the last few years. Then the young woman glanced around. "Well, that's all we can do down here. Let's get supper ready." Without even turning around, she addressed the fleeing red head. "And don't try to slip away—you're helping."

Nicole gave her mentor an unamused glance. "So, which of my three dishes do you want me to make?"

Given the options, it wasn't a hard choice. "You're cooking the veggies—see what's in the freezer. I'll heat up some of last night's dinner and throw in some extra meat."

Dinner eventually came together especially with Nicole's contribution (though the young hero would claim 'in spite of' was more accurate), and finally, it was time to eat. The meal itself was a bit rushed, as the two wanted to get in a few hours 'on patrol' before they turned in.

To their surprise, it was a relatively light night—just two robberies and an attempted mugging, but it was still pretty late by the time they got back home and Nicole began getting ready for bed. She didn't want to be tired for the next day, but at this point, it was looking rather inescapable. At last, she collapsed onto her bed and drifted off.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Nicole suited up as 'Ember,' and made her way back to the Hall of Justice, now <em>really<em> feeling the two training sessions, not to mention the fighting for the night before. Still, it couldn't dim her excitement—she was finally going to see the Watchtower! As she arrived at the Hall, she wondered to herself who would be her 'tour guide of the day'.

_*I've already had Aqualad and Tigress, so I wonder...*_

As it turned out, there was already someone waiting for her, specifically, Batgirl. "Good morning, Ember," she called.

"So, you got saddled with babysitting duty?" Nicole quipped, noting Batgirl's red hair—so, Barbara was Batgirl.

The slightly-younger girl smiled and shrugged, only replying, "Ready to see the Watchtower? Gamma's up there now, and it's almost time for Alpha's shift."

"Lead on," Ember replied, and her guide did—right to the Zeta tubes. When they finally arrived on the satellite, the new girl took a moment to breathe and settle.

_*Traveling via de-materialization and re-materialization is going to take a __lot__ of getting used to.*_

This tour didn't take nearly as long as the one two days before. The Watchtower was built for business, not pleasure, and so there were fewer areas for 'downtime' and more workstations, but still, Nicole had to admit it was an impressive structure. She couldn't help internally noting that the Hall and the Watchtower could be seen as characterizing the two sides of the League and Team, or wondering if the heroes acted slightly differently on the orbiting satellite than they did on earth.

_*Probably not. If anything, the personality shift probably occurs when they either put on or take off the costume.*_

Suddenly, her attention returned to the tour just in time to hear Batgirl say, "...And, finally, the Team's 'mission room' is in here. It's where the 'on duty' squad waits, or researches. The rest of Gamma's in there, now."

She followed her guide in, spotting Robin, Wondergirl, and Aqualad. _*Rest of Gamma...Guess that mean's Batgirl's the fourth member.*_

Robin and Wondergirl, who'd been talking quietly to themselves a moment before, noticed the new arrival and came over to Barbara and Nicole. "Hey, Ember, welcome to the Watchtower," Robin begins, apparently having learned his lesson from induction day.

"Yeah! Welcome!" Wondergirl finished, her excitement almost overwhelming Ember.

"Thanks. It's really an impressive place," Nicole replied, carefully keeping her observation/musing to herself. People tended to give her an odd look when she voiced a lot of what went on in her head—she'd learned long ago to keep the 'inner world' to herself.

As the four chatted, Ember glanced over at Aqualad, who was slaving away over a computer. Remembering Nightwing's brusque behavior, she felt a small twinge of fear that this would be a repeat performance. As if feeling her eyes on his back, Aqualad turned around and met her gaze. His expression was downright frazzled—tired, guilty, but trying to muster a smile. "My apologies, Ember. I'm a little busy with this stage of the investigation."

"That's fine," Nicole replied earnestly. "At least _you're_ nice about it," she added quietly, a hint of bitterness creeping into her tone.

Barbara caught her eye, explaining in a whisper, "He and Nightwing have been trying to take all of the data Nightwing already gathered on the case, integrate it together, look for patterns, and run it past the League's database. It's a bit time-consuming."

"To say the least," Ember grumbled, grudgingly admitted, unwilling to give Nightwing ay slack for his little display.

Before anything else could be said, the Zeta tubes began to activate, indicating that the next squad was coming to relieve Gamma. Batgirl, Robin, and Wondergirl began to get ready to leave, but Aqualad didn't move. "I'm going to be staying over the next shift," he said by way of explanation. "We need a breakthrough.

Batgirl's eyes narrowed, but she didn't dispute him, instead, she followed the other two out of the room. After a moment of hesitation, Nicole began to follow, until Kaldur stopped her. "You'd best wait; your squad's coming in now."

Nicole nodded, then leaned back against the wall, running her mind over the fifteen other members of the Team she'd met on initiation day, trying to remember who was on the other three squads, wondering if she could guess who would be on her squad.

_*I've already met Beta, Gamma, and Delta...Wait—did Aqualad assign me to __Alpha__? Talk about pressure! Anyway...Beta was Nightwing, Guardian, Bumblebee, and Lagoon Boy; Delta was Tigress and the three 'clowns': Static, Kid Flash, and Blue Beetle.; Gamma's Batgirl, Robing, Wondergirl, and Aqualad. That leaves...*_

Before Ember could finish her thought, three figures entered the Team's 'mission room' as Batgirl had called it: Superboy, Miss Martian, and Beast Boy. M'Gann grinned at Nicole, obviously excited to have another girl on the squad, but Superboy, all business, addressed Aqualad. "You aren't leaving with the rest of Gamma?"

"No, Connor. I'm waiting for a program to finish running, then...well, that'll be based on what I find. At the Atlantean's words, M'Gann looked worried, but before she spoke, Kaldur continued, "Don't worry; I won't be in your way, Alpha."

Apparently unable to contain his excitement any longer, an plainly bored with the 'business talk' the three original Team members had engaged in, Beast Boy vaulted over to Alpha's newest member, his grin stretching form ear-to-pointed-ear.

"You're on Alpha with us, Ember!" The young boy exclaimed. "Isn't it so cool?"

"You know it, Kiddo!" Nicole replied, unable to stop herself from grinning at the hyperactive boy in half-monkey form in front of her.

Gar started bouncing in place, still grinning madly as he asked: "I wanted to ask you something at the party before Nightwing showed up, Ember."

"Go ahead." Nicole nodded, half wondering what the shape-shifter could possibly want to know.

"So, when you control fire, does it feel hot, or are you so immune that you can't even feel it? And if you can't feel it, can you feel other hot things?"

The fire-wielder was grateful that his questions were just about her powers—and ones she knew the answers to—so she answered quite willingly. "Flames don't feel hot to me. Honestly, they kind of tickle. But, according to my burn scar from a cooking disaster—" she added, indicating a mark on her left arm from roughly two years before, "—I'm only immune to fire."

"Gar, give her a chance to breath!" Miss M reprimanded. Abashed, her little brother scampered off, and the Martian turned to Ember. "Sorry about that. He can be a bit...enthusiastic, if you couldn't tell. But welcome to the squad!"

The red head just chuckled, shrugging a little. "No harm done; he seems like a good kid. And thanks for the welcome!"

Having finished his talk with Aqualad, Superboy walked up to the two girls with what—for him—was a friendly expression. "Nice to see you again, Ember," he said with a single nod.

"Apparently, you'll be seeing a lot of me," she responded with a not-unfriendly laugh.

At that, the boy of steel actually managed a small smile. "Well, I'm glad you'll be with us. Out of curiosity, are you a long-range or close-range fighter?"

From that, Nicole gathered that Connor was the leader of Alpha trying to figure out how to fit her into the battle strategy for future reference. "Both, depending on the situation," she answered honestly.

The conversation about strategies and battle experiences continued, but not involved were devoting their full attention to it. At something Nicole said, Connor was temporarily startled. _*For a second, I thought I was talking to a female Nightwing...weird.*_

Miss Martian, meanwhile, was trying to figure out a good time to spend some one-on-one time with the new girl to get to know her as a friend in addition to a Teammate and fellow Alpha member. Beastboy, on the other hand, was thinking back to the conversation he'd had with Ember. _*Was she making fun of me or being serious? Well, at least she wasn't being mean. But 'kiddo'? __Really__?*_

Aqualad glanced over his shoulder at Alpha, trying to get a read on the new girl. _*She says that everything's fine, and she's certainly trying to act like it is, but something is bothering her. But everyone's entitled to their own secrets, I guess.*_

For her part, Nicole was scanning the room, taking in the three other members of Alpha, as well as Aqualad. _*This is my team—my new family.*_ While comforting in a sense, the thought contained a deep sadness as well.


	6. 5 Night at the Museum

**Hello, ModernDayBard here! I think it's about time Ember has her first mission! Again, I don't own Young Justice or its associated characters, just my Oc's. And yes, the MMM is completely fictional. But I figured that in a world where magic, especially ancient magic, is actually real, there might be a museum dedicated to mythological artifacts.**

It was an exciting time for Ember—her first time 'on duty' on the Watchtower with Alpha! Finally, it felt as though she was truly being included as a part of the Team. Admittedly, the Zeta tube trip up still felt strange to her, but she didn't dwell on her discomfort after she noticed her Teammates, who had obviously just arrived themselves. M'Gann caught her eye, smiling and waving at Alpha's newest member.

Nicole returned the wave, calling over, "Sorry I'm late; I got a little turned around on the way here." With that, she walked over to the other three, but before small talk could even commence, Nightwing's face popped up on a computer screen as he initiated a com link.

"Alpha squad, are you there?"

Superboy crossed over to the computer as he answered the detective, "We're all here, Nightwing. What is it?"

"A mission," was the response.

Nicole felt her heart rate quicken at that, realizing she was about to go on her first Team mission. She heard her own excitement echoed in Beast Boy's voice as he bounded over to stand next to Superboy, asking, "A mission?"

Nightwing nodded, continuing as if the interruption hadn't taken place. "We have our first lead on the big case—one of our allies, Morwinn, says that at the museum she works at there's been tampering with the security. She thinks one of the artifacts in the traveling exhibit is the target, since it's the conduit of some pretty potent mystic power. She described some of the signs that led her to believe that it's being targeted, and it lines up with our mystery gang's MO. From what we can tell, the raid will be tonight. Morwinn's already in place, but since we don't really know what we're up against, she's requested back up. I'm sending coordinates now."

"Coordinates received; we're on our way," M'Gann replied, and the call ended.

Superboy turned to the rest of the squad. "We'll spread out; monitor the entrances to the museum. Once someone sees something, we'll converge on the target, hopefully corner them, and take them in to custody for questioning."

"Sounds good," Nicole replied, following them to the Bioship. "Let's do this."

* * *

><p>The flight on the Bioship started as silent and tense as each member of Alpha mentally prepared themselves for the coming stakeout. Eventually, Ember broke the silence with a question that had been on her mind since Nightwing gave them the mission info. "Who's this Morwinn? I've never heard of her."<p>

"Well, I've not met her," Connor replied without looking at Nicole, "but from what Nightwing's said about her, he met her during his time as a solo hero. She wields a purple energy she calls 'Fey,' which supposedly has mystic origins, but works more like the Green Lanterns' energy. Apparently, she's based in New York; works as a museum tour guide, then guards the museum's collection of mystic artifacts."

"That's all she does?" Gar asked with a tone of disbelief, which earned a small smile from Superboy.

"That's what I said, but according to Nightwing, it's needed. He only worked with her on a few cases, and there were no less than three attempted heists—one by Sportsmaster."

Nicole glanced away from the others, trying to figure out why it bothered her that Morwinn and Nightwing had worked so closely together. _*I guess I assumed he'd been so distant because he doesn't trust people right away. That didn't stop him from trusting Morwinn...and staying in contact with her. But what do I care? Maybe because he's the only one who hasn't accepted me—right?*_

After arriving in New York, Superboy stationed one Alpha member on each side of the museum, in higher perches in order to have a clear view of the target. Nicole crouched in her assigned location, trying her best to be perfectly still so that no movement would give her away before the criminal showed up. Once the others were all in place, the red-head felt a presence in her mind, like her consciousness widened. It was an extremely peculiar sensation, then she heard M'Gann's voice in her mind: _*Link established. Is everyone online?*_

_*I'm here!*_ came Gar's unmistakable exuberance.

Superboy was more subdued. _*I hear you.*_

_*I'm here as well,*_ Nicole added, trying to get used to the sensation. She couldn't deny the usefulness of the link, though. She scanned the area in her line of vision, watching closely. Stakeouts weren't really her or Silver's style, so they hadn't done too many, but she'd been on enough to know the mental tricks that helped her stay still and keep alert.

From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a flicker of movement heading towards the street, away from the museum. She concentrated, but nothing was there when she looked. It'd resembled a large animal—_definitely_ not human—so she hesitated to report it. Still, she worried that it might have been important. Before she could make up her mind, the full moon came out from behind a cloud. It didn't make much difference to the lights and shadows of the city, but still, it was a comforting presence to the girl who's mentor had the powers of moonlight.

_*I just saw a shape-shifter break in on my side!*_

Gar's psychic shout broke through Nicole's musing, and she heard Connor's puzzled reply. _*How do you know it was a shape-shifter?*_

_*Because,*_ Gar began, and Nicole could picture him lashing his tail in annoyance, _*no wolf is __that__ big!*_

Superboy didn't waste any more time. _*You all studied the layout—take your door and cut him off before he gets to the exhibit. Go!*_

At their leader's order, Alpha squad leaped into action. Ember passed through the door that Morwinn had left unlocked, as per Nightwing's instructions, and began running along her designated route towards the center of the museum where the traveling exhibit was located. All along the way, her eyes were never still and her ears never stopped straining—she was desperate for any sign that she was, in fact, a head of her quarry. She knew full well that it was vital Alpha made there in time to block the thief—Morwinn was apparently strong with her powers, but not so much with normal combat.

_*Hence the cushy museum gig, I suppose. Why would the Metropolitan Museum of Mythology even need a resident superhero anyway?* _Nicole grumbled to herself, careful to block the thoughts from the psychic link.

According to the directions Nightwing had sent, Nicole was still a good three turns from the target exhibit when she heard a tremendous crash echo through the hallway, followed by other sounds that were best explained if she pictured a desperate scuffle going on. She pushed herself to run even fast, heart pounding. She wasn't afraid of combat—as Silver's protégé, she'd been in her share of fights—but suddenly the thought of one of her new friends getting hurt because she wasn't there to help made the eighteen year old truly worry.

At last, she rounded the final corner—arriving at the same time as the rest of Alpha, a part of her mind noticed—and stopped, stunned for a moment. Well, it was hard not to stare at a witch fighting a wolf! That's what it looked like anyway, as Morwinn (at least, Ember assumed the pale-skinned, dark-haired girl was Morwinn) wore an old-fashioned dark dress, pointed witch's hat, and heels that were not practical for combat or chases. The only part of her get up that didn't scram 'witch costume' was a an odd purple cape the same color as the energy that wreathed her hands and was occasionally lobbed in balls at the silvery, shaggy wolf that was, as Beast Boy had astutely pointed out, _way_ too big to be normal.

The two combatants were locked together, rolling over and over as they tried to simultaneously dodge and attack, so it was hard to find an opening to take a shot that wouldn't risk hurting their ally by accident. Nicole couldn't suppress the surprised thought that neither Morwinn nor her attacker seemed very good at fighting, both relying more-or-less on instinct. Finally, they stopped moving as the wolf pinned Morwinn, and Ember took the opening as she saw it, lobbing a fireball at her admittedly large target.

Her aim was good, and she hit her target dead-on. The wolf jumped off of Morwinn, yelping a little as the fur on his back smoldered. Before he recovered, Morwinn sat up quickly and hit him with another blast of purple energy. The four-footed beast was dazed, and Miss Martian used her telekinesis to grab what was lying around to tie his paws together and his muzzle shut. With a deep breath, Ember allowed herself to relax slightly, but she still kept an eye on the restrained wolf.

Morwinn pulled herself back to her feet, dusting off the front of her odd, plain black dress. "Thanks for that," she said curtly, but not in an unfriendly tone. "You're squad Nightwing sent, I'm guessing?"

Superboy nodded once, then asked, "Then you'd be Morwinn?" It wasn't really a question so much as being polite—who else could she be?

"I am." She looked around with a grimace of distaste, and started to use her strange power to repair the damage that the fight had wreaked on the exhibit. As she worked, she continued to speak, as if doing something productive helped her to relax. "Well, he didn't get his filthy paws on the Amulet of the Grell Rembar, so I guess you mission was a success. Though, given his dismal performance tonight, I doubt this bozo is the big boss."

Alpha squad exchanged glances, as if asking each other what to think of their odd ally. _*This museum must mean a lot to her,*_ Nicole mused, forgetting about the psychic link. _*She fights hard for it, even if she's not that good at fighting.*_

_*There's an idea,* _M'Gann replied, startling the fire-wielder. The Martian began to use her telekinesis to help Morwinn with the clean-up, which definitely cheered up the strange girl.

The wannabe-witch actually managed a small smile. "You can tell Nightwing that I did more research into the Grell Rembar myth—supposedly the amulet can control the forces of Time, War, Famine, Plague, Love, and Death. There was probably some exaggeration, but I'm playing it safe and putting more protective spells around its case. I'm assuming you'll be taking 'Moony' with you?" Morwinn asked, nodding in the direction of the wolf.

Gar tilted his head to one side. "Moony? Why Moony?"

"I guess none of you have magically-based powers," Morwinn said with a slightly stunned expression. "This guy practically _reeks_ of the Lupine spell." She only got blank looks, so she tried again. "He's _actually_ a werewolf. He shouldn't be any more trouble for a month or so."

* * *

><p>It was late by the time Alpha made it back to the Hall of Justice with Moony in tow. When they arrived, Nightwing and Aqualad were there to meet them, waiting for the report, which Superboy gave.<p>

Nightwing nodded, especially when he heard about the extra research and protection Morwinn was planning. "Nice work, Alpha; Aqualad and I will take charge of the prisoner. Get some rest, you've earned it."

Nicole couldn't help the thought that the young detective would be easy for her to get along with—if he'd ever stop glaring at her like she was involved with the wrong side. Connor, M'Gann, and Gar all headed off to the Zeta Tubes, but Ember hesitated, noticing how tired Nightwing seemed.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw her standing there, indecisive. "Can I help you?" he asked shortly.

Taking a deep breath, she blurted out, "Are you all right? You seem a little, well, exhausted."

The returned hero turned away and shrugged, saying curtly, "This is the hard part of the investigation. I'll be fine. At least we've got a lead now; though I have a feeling that questioning him might take a while."

A reply flew to Nicole's mind and out her mouth before she could stop it, to her own mortification.

* * *

><p>Speaking of mortification, upon arriving home, she found that Marji had waited up for her. Fortunately, once she'd been given the bare-bones account, the older hero seemed to get the message that her protégé wanted to process the mission a bit more on her own before recounting the details, so she let Ember go upstairs, alone in her thoughts.<p>

Truth be told, the eighteen-year-old couldn't even commit herself completely to analyzing the events at the museum. Admittedly, she was a little distracted by the memory of her final exchange with Nightwing, her mind continuously looping the last thing she'd said to him: _*You know: it's not so hard to be nice.*_

Just the thought of the momentary lapse in her guard made her want to die of embarrassment, but as she remembered the small smirk that followed the surprised expression on his face, she relented her self-remonstration slightly.

_*I can always die of embarrassment tomorrow, after all.*_


	7. 6 Slower Days

**Hello, ModernDayBard here! There's not really much that I have to say, except that, of course, I don't own Young Justice or its associated characters, just my oc's.**

_*I think the main drawback with the superhero life is the necessity of going back to your ordinary life the next day and pretend like nothing happened. Like now, I have to be at work and think like 'Nicole' and not 'Ember' while the senior members of the Team and League interrogate the prisoner that I helped capture.*_ The fire-wielder sighed, but what else had she expected? It would be a day or so before Alpha squad was back 'on duty,' so she decided to focus on more ordinary distractions...

...Not that _they _were available to her at the moment, either.

Nicole rocked on her heels as she stood at her 'station'—today, she'd been assigned to be the sole associate in the dvd/music section of the bookstore. It wasn't a bad assignment, as it went, but she kept thinking longingly of the book in her purse under the deck—it was the latest installment in her favorite satire series, one she'd been reviewing on her blog, "The Sarcastic Scribe." She was only a few chapters in, and it was shaping up to be the best one yet. The author may have been relatively new, but he kept getting better and batter. Five books had been published so far, and Nicole had been hooked since book three.

However, she had to wait for an official break before she could indulge in a few more chapters. Therefore, Nicole had to content herself with starting to compose her review in her mind. It was harder work than most people thought—it wasn't simply jotting down her thoughts in a haphazard but honest fashion: every word was carefully chosen for its exact shade of meaning, for the way it fit with the other words in the sentence, and even for the way it sounded when spoken or read aloud, both alone and in context, to give the best overall impression.

_*After all, you don't get to be a professional literary critic by being careless with your words. A critic must be as precise as the author's they critique, maybe even more so!*_ It was a labor of love however, and she didn't begrudge the effort it took.

Dreams of a professional 'someday' aside, Nicole had a job here and now that she had to perform to the best of her ability. She scanned the area, and saw two siblings enter: a brother who seemed to be about fourteen or fifteen and a sister maybe eleven or twelve. The boy stood waiting, obviously supposed to be keeping an eye on his sister, though he was engrossed in a book that he'd picked up to buy—the same book that was waiting for her come her break, Nicole noticed with some amount of satisfaction.

"Here it is!" the girl called out, pulling out the newest cd, just released by an overly popular boy band. "I know what I'm buying with my birthday money!"

The brother glanced at her choice, grimacing. "Seriously? Didn't you get that from Aunt Marcy?"

"No, Aunt Marcy gave me a cd from a _different_ group!"

He scanned the 'pop music' section, replying dryly: "How can you tell? They all look and sound the same."

His sister didn't reply, beyond making a face, and all but ran over to the register where Nicole was waiting. Nicole rang up the total, and then looked at the gift card the eager girl handed over. All too soon, a problem became evident. "Um, Miss? You're five dollars short."

All at once, her face fell. "I left my wallet at home!" the girl wailed. "I thought I had enough!"

Nicole was about to say something when the brother came up behind her, looked at the book in his hand a bit regretfully, then pulled out the money his sister was missing and handed it over to Nicole. As she rang up the cd, she heard the sister whisper in surprise, "But—but you said you only had just enough for your book! You've been waiting for it for months and that's the last copy the store has!"

He only shrugged. "I'm supposed to help Mr. Wilson with his lawn on Saturday, and he pays generously. They'll get another shipment…eventually."

Nicole wished store policy would allow her to pay the difference and get the young man his book, but there _was_ at least something she could do. "If you want, I can put that copy of the book on hold for you," she offered.

His eyes lit up as he gave her the information, and she logged the hold in the store's computer system, then set the copy aside. Then, the two siblings left, saying something about meeting their mom in the coffee shop area.

Nicole smiled after them, trying to ignore the sharp pang of sadness the scene had evoked. _*No. That's over and dead. It can't hurt you anymore, if __you__ don't let it!*_ Still, her guard slipped a little as she watched the two figures slip between the shelves of books, whispering to herself:

"Always take care of your sister; she's lucky to have a brother like you…"

She had to work at the bookstore the next day as well, but she had the morning shift and got off pretty early. Really early, in fact—a good few hours before Alpha was due to be 'on deck' at the Hall of Justice. Still, Nicole remembered Tigress saying something about people coming in early if they didn't have to be anywhere else the time Ember had trained with Delta.

_*I'd like to know how things are going with Moony...it's summer, so no school work...And Silver's at __her__ day job and won't be back home until much later, so no training with her, either. Alright, that settles it—I'm going.*_

Once she arrived (in costume as Ember), Nicole made straight for the League/Team only section of the Hall, since that's where she knew Gamma would be while they waited for their time to be 'on duty' on the Watchtower. As she wandered around, looking for Tim, Cassie, or the others, she only just managed to avoid colliding with Aqualad.

Pulling up short, Nicole grinned at the Atlantean. "Hey, Aqualad. What's up?"

Aqualad stopped, greeting the red-haired girl with a warm smile. "Ember, please," he intoned gently, "We are not on a mission. You can call me Kaldur, remember?"

"Right," the fire-wielder replied with a sheepish grin, remembering that he'd already given her permission to use his 'real name'. "But I'm not the only one to forget: it's Nicole, remember?"

"Nicole it is then. So, Nicole, what brings you to the Hall so early? Alpha's not due on deck for more than an hour."

The girl in question shrugged noncommittally. "I'm trying to beat the 'new-kid syndrome b spending time around the rest of the Team whenever possible."

Aqualad nodded, digesting her answer. "So, you've got some free time on your hands," the Team's leader observed. "Would you like to spend some of it on some combat training?"

"Why not? Sounds fun," Nicole responded honestly, following the Atlantean towards the training gym.

As the two walked, Kaldur looked at the shorter girl beside him, as Nicole didn't stand more than five foot two or three. "So," he began, "how do you want to do it? Powers, unarmed? Both? Some combination?"

"Silver says I need to work on my unarmed and power-based combat; so how about we start with one then switch to the other?" It wasn't strictly true, but Nicole knew that Aqualad didn't really do armed combat which is what she really needed to work on. Still, practice is practice, and she _had_ been looking for something to distract her.

Kaldur nodded in agreement, and once they reached the gym, the two squared off, starting with simple, hand-to-hand combat. After training with Silver for so long, Ember found interesting, and a little difficult to spar with somebody who had trained in a completely different fighting style. Aqualad was clearly holding back enough to not hurt her, but he didn't take it easy on her, much like Marji—both teens had to work for their hits and dodges. The two were pretty evenly matched at first, despite the different styles, but eventually the fact that he'd been training under Aquaman for a lot longer than she'd been training under Silver began to tell. Eventually he won the sparring match, though Nicole hadn't made it easy for him.

Once they switched to powers-based combat, though, it was a completely different story. Aqualad may have had his powers longer and trained them more, but Ember had a definite advantage. Her fire-powers obviously trumped his water-powers, but the redhead in now ways relaxed her guard. She remembered all too well that fire was his weaknesses, so, just like when she sparred with Marji, most of Nicole's concentration was focused on holding her flames back, to keep from hurting the Team's leader.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she marveled that someone with a physiological weaknesses to fire would voluntarily spar with her, and wondered why certain other members of the Team would not afford her that same trust.

Aqualad put up a good fight, but the advantage id solidly and unquestionably Ember's. Even while holding back, Nicole was always slightly beating Kaldur, and finally, he ceded the round to her. "Good job, Ember—er, Nicole."

"It was just the elemental advantage," Nicole admitted with a shrug. "If our first fight shows anything, you've got the edge overall."

At that, Aqualad chuckled. "Well, either way, the Team is lucky to have you for sure."

Nicole smiled, replying, "Thanks." But neither of them seemed to know what to say next, leaving them standing awkwardly in the middle of the training room. Finally, unable to stand the moment and confident that Aqualad would not misunderstand the offer, she spoke up. "I'm heading to the galley to grab a bite. Want to come with?"

"That sounds like a great idea, Nicole." With that, Aqualad followed her out of the training room to the 'galley'—as the League termed the kitchenette in the 'behind-the-scenes' area of the Hall of Justice. Of course, once there, they were faced with the incredibly tough decision to either cook something from scratch or else scavenge form the cupboards and refrigerator. Nicole was a competent if not excellent cook (when she stuck to the few dishes that she knew well) but she was in more of a scavenging mood, so she just grabbed an orange and some strawberries before sitting down next to Kaldur, and the two chatted.

At first, it was mostly small talk, then Nicole heard Kaldur ask, "So, have you been working with Silver for long? How did that start?—if you don't mind my asking," the Atlantean added hastily, obviously having seen something in the expression of the girl sitting beside him.

"Three and a half years, going on four," she answered after a brief pause. "We were...trying to take out the same group, and we worked well together." Nicole was speaking carefully, trying to keep her voice calm and carefree, and also controlling the details she revealed. "It worked well, so we decided to keep it up, and she took me in to make our cover easier. We tell people I'm her little sister."

She fell silent for a moment. She didn't exactly have anything to hide, but, like most heroes, her 'origin story' was not one she liked to share, if only because of the painful memories it stirred up. Therefore, she took a few questions to het Aqualad on the subject of his home. She got the sense Kaldur realized what he was doing, but she breathed an internal sigh of relief when he played along and switched topics.

Eventually, Aqualad trailed off, and Nicole glanced over to see him staring off into nowhere. "Is something wrong?" she asked, taking in his pensive expression.

"Not wrong, exactly just...slow," he answered eventually, before elaborating: "Our interrogation of 'Moony' isn't going in any way fast. Either he doesn't know the answers, or he's overly loyal to the big boss...whoever that is."

Nicole thought back to what she remembered of the large wolf. "My money's on ignorance," she replied at last. "He didn't seem the brightest of people...or wolves...at the museum."

Aqualad chuckled at that, but before he said anything, Batgirl popped her head in. "Aqualad, it's time for us to go: Gamma's up on duty."

She left, and the Atlantean stood. "Well, I had a good time, Ember. The rest of Alpha should be here soon. See you later."

"Good luck with the mission, Kaldur," Nicole called to his retreating figure. Aqualad raised one webbed hand in salute, then followed Batgirl to the zeta tubes, leaving Nicole in the galley to await the rest of her squad.


	8. 7 Making Peace

**Hello, ModernDayBard here! To the best of my knowledge, I still don't own Young Justice or its associated characters. As a consolation prize, I do have my oc's and the idea for this plot, so I guess that's something...**

"_Good luck with the mission, Kaldur," Nicole called to his retreating figure. Aqualad raised one webbed hand in salute, then followed Batgirl to the Zeta tubes, leaving Nicole in the galley to await the rest of her squad._

The first squad member to come in and greet her was Beast Boy, and he did so with his characteristic high-energy as he came to a sliding stop right in front of her. "Hi, Ember!" he chorused. "Aqualad said I could find you here! How are you doing?"

"Hey, BB," Nicole replied. "I'm doing pretty good—so don't wreck it kiddo." She added the last part with a grin and a wink to let the young boy know she was just kidding. Over the past few weeks, the two had engaged in a lot of light-hearted teasing banter.

Gar seemed in a rather good mood, laughing and doing a back flip, seemingly just for the sake of doing one. Once he landed, he spoke up again. "So, Ember, I've been wondering: do you think you could breathe fire like a _dragon_ if you wanted to?"

"Tried it once," the red-haired girl admitted with a grimace at the memory. "I spent the next three days coughing."

"Oh." Beast boy seemed momentarily subdued, but it didn't last long—could anything slow this kid down? "Hey, Ember! Want to try your luck?"

Nicole treated him to a confused expression, and in explanation, he held up the case to a popular video game that was quite a few years old—Nicole had started playing it when she was even younger than Gar. The sight of the game rooted her to the spot for a moment, flinging her back several years in her memory. With some difficulty, she shrugged off the flashback, wondering if she'd struggle more if she actually _played_ the game.

She wanted to say 'no,' but as she looked into his eager face, she found she just couldn't let him down. Besides, what better way to start leaving the past behind than over-writing her old memories with new ones? She grinned at the green-skinned boy, replying, "Oh, you don't know _what_ you've gotten yourself into, Gar."

With a laugh, he led the way to one of the 'common rooms' and got the video game set up. The both picked up controllers and selected their respective characters, launching into game-play proper. Despite a few years of 'collecting rust', Nicole soon recalled the details of her old strategy, and was soon holding her own against the younger teen. In fact, neither ended up with a discernible edge over the other.

Just when they reached the end of the eighth level and saved, but before wither was anywhere close to being ready to stop playing, M'Gann entered, arms crossed. Nicole could tell form the Martian's expression that one or both of them were in trouble, then realized Miss M was glaring at her adopted younger brother. "Gar, your homework is barely half-done."

"But M'Gann—" he began to protest, but his sister cut him off.

"No 'but's. Get to it, _now_."

Gar must've known it was a losing battle, because he drops his protestations, shutting down the game and letting Miss M herd him from the room. Nicole was left alone, quietly musing to herself: _*Remind me not to get on M'Gann's bad side.*_

Eventually, she put the controller down beside her on the couch, feeling a little lost about what to do next. Before she reached any answer, Superboy entered and noticed her. "Oh, Ember. Aqualad said you got here early."

Ember looked up at him and smiled, replying, "Hey, Connor! I was just playing with Beast Boy, but he had to go." She trailed off with a frown, peering closer at the dark circles under his piercing blue eyes. "Connor, are you okay?" she asked with concern.

He sinks beside her on the couch, answering with barely a glance at the girl beside him. "Fine, Ember, just a little tired. I—I've been trying to help with the interrogation of Moony."

At that, Nicole perked up, asking eagerly, hoping against hope, "Has he said who he answers to?"

He scowled after she asked her question, but the impression Ember got was that his anger was at his answer, not at her. "His either really loyal to his boss—whoever that is—or he's really an idiot who doesn't know anything. We're not getting _anywhere_ with that mangy mutt."

"And his friends haven't even tried to break him out..." she mused. "That's as good an argument as any for him being pretty much a 'useless lackey'."

That actually managed to make Superboy chuckle, but his good mood didn't last. He leaned back on the couch with a slight, groan as he continued, "And Morwinn reported back last night. The Grell Rembar myth has so many versions that she has to sort through that it might just as well have been a dead end, too."

Nicole frowned slightly at the mention of their museum-bound ally. She'd started to think better of the odd girl when she realized how determined Morwinn was to protect 'her' museum, but Ember still couldn't help feeling that the wannabe-witch wasn't being all that helpful. _*Then again,*_ Nicole reminded herself, _*if Moony doesn't talk, my big contributions not going to be that useful, either.*_

Connor caught her eye, and he noticed her worried expression, and though he didn't know exactly what was running through his newest teammate's mind, he tried for a weary grin—though it _was_ a pretty wan effort. "Hey, don't sweat it, Ember: we'll figure it out. There's probably something we'll notice pretty soon."

Far from reassured but appreciating his effort, Nicole weakly returned the smile. She wasn't sure what to say next, and she felt like Connor was only a few moments away from falling asleep. Suddenly, there was a crash from the kitchen area she'd been in earlier with Kaldur, and Ember felt it was as good an excuse as any. With a mumbled 'excuse me', the red-haired fire-wielder made her way toward the sound and rounded the corner just in time to see M'Gann cleaning up a mess.

"Don't know if I'll be much help," Nicole admitted as she stepped inside, "but do you want some company?"

The Martian turned at her friend's voice, smiling. "Hello, Nicole! I'll never turn away a pair of willing hands." Before Ember could protest (again) that she wasn't much of a cook, M'Gann levitated a cookbook towards her, and the teen grabbed it and began reading. "Here's the recipe I'm trying out," M'Gann finished, gesturing to the ingredients she had laying out on the counter.

"Garlic-Lemon-Parmesan Oven Roasted-Zucchini. Seriously?"

"I'm trying to get Gar to eat more veggies. He likes cheese and the garlic-lemon-salt flavor combo, so I thought this recipe might work," Miss M explained. "Here, you start washing and cutting the zucchini, and I'll mix up the seasoning blend."

Deciding that there was no point in arguing with the older girl, Nicole set to work. Besides, how bad could she mess up the recipe by simply cutting up vegetables? "Slices or spears?" she had the presence of mind to ask.

"Spears," the Martian answered, and Ember grabbed a knife and got started.

While the red haired cut the zucchini and lay them out in some foil-lined pans, M'Gann mixed together two tablespoons of oil, two teaspoons of lemon juice, a quarter teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. As soon as Nicole finished, the Martian came over and brushed her mixture over each spear, then had her friend cover them with shredded parmesan. Finally, the dish was ready for the oven, and the tantalizing smell began to fill the 'behind the scenes' area of the Hall.

After twelve minutes of baking and three on broil, M'Gann decided the zucchini were ready. Even before the dish had cooled enough to eat, M'Gann and Nicole both set aside their own portions, knowing the two boys would soon make their way in and, if the recipe had done its job, there wouldn't be much left by the time they were done.

Nicole, not a huge zucchini fan, had to admit that the seasonings definitely made the veggie a lot more palatable, and who can argue with lightly toasted cheese? _*All in all, I'll admit it's not bad for a first attempt. I shudder to think what it would've tasted like if M'Gann hadn't been there, though.*_

Sure enough, Connor and Gar soon put in their appearances and, after a moment of hesitation, tried the zucchini and found that they, too, liked it. Alpha squad began to snack and banter, but all too soon the relaxed air was shattered as Gamma squad Zeta'd in talking and laughing loudly. As if on cue, the four members of Alpha stood, conversation halted in mid-sentence, making their way to the Zeta tubes.

Abruptly, Gar halted and ran back to the table, snatching up a few more pieces of Zucchini before racing back to rejoin the others. As the Zeta tubes activated, the two girls exchanged a grin.

_*Mission Accomplished* _Nicole heard M'Gann gloat telepathically.

* * *

><p>Nicole was still laughing at M'Gann's triumphant expression as the members of Alpha arrived on the Watchtower and made their way from the Zeta tubes to the Team's 'command center'. The laugh died in her throat, however, when she saw the figure of Nightwing still at the computers.<p>

_*Great. Is he going to be glaring at me the whole time—again?*_

The others seemed surprised to see him, too. Superboy crossed his arms, electric-blue eyes narrowing. "Nightwing, I thought you'd be with Kaldur and the prisoner—"

Nightwing didn't even let his friend finish the question, replying without meeting Superboy's eyes. "Someone broke the werewolf out last night."

_That_ got everyone's attention, and M'Gann, Gar, and Connor all clustered around him, expressing their disbelief and asking questions. Nicole hung back, not because she didn't have any questions, but because she knew the dark-haired detective wouldn't hear her in the commotion. It took Nightwing an understandable length of time to re-establish quiet. Once he did, Ember finally voiced her question.

"How'd they get him out from right under our noses?"

Nightwing's narrowed eyes rested on Nicole for a moment, but before long he'd turned away, replying tersely, "We're not sure _what_ happened. The room he was in just went dark—pure black—the camera couldn't pick up anything. When the room cleared, he was gone, but nothing had been disturbed and the lock was still intact." After spitting out the barest information, he turned back to the computers, ostensibly trying to track down a new lead. It was a clear message: he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Such a display of ill-temper was out-of-character for the detective—or so M'Gann and Connor had assured Nicole—and the four members of Alpha exchange wary glances, each unsure of the proper thing to say or do next. Suddenly, M'Gann opened a psychic link, gently prodding the rest of Alpha. _*Come on. Let's give him some space, guys.*_

Nicole carefully shielded her thoughts form the others, but she couldn't help wondering: was space really what Nightwing _really_ needed? The other three unobtrusively drifted away, but the flame-wielder stood rooted to the spot, still watching the dark-haired young man. She still wasn't sure what had caused their quarrel, but she felt that whatever it was, it had to be addressed soon before the tension between them became ingrained.

Nightwing either didn't notice that Nicole was still present, or else he was purposefully ignoring her. Finally, the red-haired teen could stand the tense atmosphere no longer, and she blurted out, "You don't have to snap at _us_—we're all on the same Team." She hadn't meant to sound so confrontational, but the detective had a way of getting under skin. As she stood defiantly, he glanced silently over at her, his face still a scowling mask. She could stand his attitude no more. Crossing her arms, she was unable to stop herself from snapping, "You know, I just might be willing to apologize for whatever I did to get on your bad side, but you're going to have to tell me what it is, first."

With an exasperated sigh that had a weary groan mixed in it, Nightwing turned completely around to face Nicole, his expression no longer angry. If anything, he looked...tired. "Look, Ember," he said quietly, "I'm sorry. I know I haven't been fair to you." He started to say something, then shook his head. "Honestly, I can't even give you a reason for it—my reaction has been pretty much irrational. And it hasn't helped that I've been so caught up in the investigation and the mission."

"Hey, the past's in the past," Nicole offered, calming down now that Nightwing wasn't being so confrontational. "Anyway, it's good that you take your job so seriously."

As if giving up, he slumped into a nearby chair, and she gingerly took the one beside him as he continued, gaze firmly fixed on the floor. "You heard what happened to the first Kid Flash? How he...he died...in the last fight against the Reach? How he sacrificed himself to shut down the Chrysalis?"

Uncertain of the right thing to say, Nicole simply nodded, remembering well the news reports from the time it happened, as well as the stories the Team had told her since she first joined. Nightwing continued after taking a deep breath. "I'd been in charge of that mission from the start," he admitted. "I was the leader and I let my best friend die. I—I feel like the whole Team down, especially Wally."

Acting on impulse, Ember reached over and laid a hand on one of the detective's slumped shoulders. Nightwing turned his head sideways, meeting her gaze for a second. "That's why I left..._and_ why I came back, honestly: I wanted to do better this time." He dropped his gaze back to the floor, as if unable to meet her eyes. "But I'm just messing it up all over again—maybe worse this time!"

"We're all behind you," Nicole insisted, her hand still on his shoulder. "And none of us blame you at _all_."

At that, the young hero looked up and gave her a weary smile, but she couldn't tell if he really believed her or not. Since her instincts had guided her well so far, she decided to trust them yet again, standing up and treating Nightwing to one of her crooked grins. "Come on, Nightwing—break time." He shook his head almost instinctively, but she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "And we were doing so well with this little reconciliation heart-to-heart. Don't wreck it, now."

He chuckled a little, slowly standing. "I'm whelmed by your concern, Ember. I guess I don't really have a choice—do I?"

She had to smile a little—she thought she was the only one who made the 'whelmed joke—but even surprise did not stop her from replying in kind: "And I'm concerted that you're whelmed. Want to see what kind of food they have up here?" That was more for his sake then hers—she'd already eaten a lot back at the Hall, but she figured Nightwing was the type to work through meals if he got caught up in the mission too much.

"To the galley it is, then," he capitulated with a shrug. Nicole was surprised it was that easy, but she opted not to look the gift horse in the mouth.

They made their way to the decidedly more industrial kitchen (in comparison to the one in the Hall of Justice), and grabbed a quick snack, which they moved to the counter to eat. For her part, Ember had just grabbed a few crackers to disguise her lack of appetite. The two eighteen-year-old's ate in silence at first, but eventually they began to laugh and joke together like they'd been friends the whole time, instead of pseudo-rivals. By the end of the brief respite, any tension between the two was gone.

_*Mission accomplished indeed.*_


	9. 8 Testing and Training

**Hello, ModernDayBard here with this week's chapter! I still don't own Young Justice or its associated characters. But I do have my oc's and the idea for this plot, so that will have to do...for now...and yes, I 'borrowed' an idea from Sherlock, but hey—my girls don't have gadgets, they had to get the news somehow!**

As much as she loved working in the bookstore and being surrounded by books and the people who loved them, Nicole found herself resenting more and more the time that her 'day job' (clerk/shelf-stocker in the bookstore) stole from her 'real job' (Ember, protégé to local hero, Silver).

A few days after her reconciliation with Nightwing, Nicole found these thoughts running through her mind as she left the store after an extended shift. She was tired, but she was also looking forward to that night's work—she was taking a break from Team-work and working with her mentor-one-on-one that night.

_*And thus the bookseller now takes a backseat to the hero.*_

Despite Marji's recent push towards healthier meals, the older hero still made exceptions on nights the two would be heading out on patrol early, so Ember managed to get away with a 'dinner' of a protein bar, a piece of toast with cream cheese, and an orange. Even before the last hasty bite was fully swallowed, the eighteen-year-old was tearing up the stairs at top speed, eager to be out and about 'on patrol'. She seized her Ember costume from its hidden place in her closet and hurriedly pulled it on. She fell just shy of her record of thirty seconds, but still felt she was getting better at her quick-changes. Preparations ready, the red-haired fire-wielder all but slid down the banister to join her mentor on the first floor, looking forward to the night ahead with eager anticipation.

Almost as soon as the two had begun their patrol, the first crisis to be addressed presented itself. A prosperous jewelry store in the center of town had apparently proved too much temptation for two low-life burglars.

"Good way to ease into the night," Silver offered. Ember nodded in agreement, and the two made their way in the direction of the alarm. Once they arrived, Silver silently directed Ember into position, placing her just outside of the store, with a good vantage point to keep an eye on the back door. "Likely their getaway plan," was her explanation.

Nicole crouched in position, slightly disappointed that Silver would get to go in, powers blazing, while the teen was relegated to being nothing more than a glorified lookout. The older hero glanced over at the younger, waiting until the red head was ready in her place before making her move.

Nicole watched as her mentor slipped through the front door, deceptively quiet. Despite her annoyance at being left outside, Ember found herself silently counting to five. On the final number, all hell broke loose in the store. The chaos was kicked off by a brilliant light flaring out the door and all windows, which was followed by the sounds of battle. The teen wasn't worried for her mentor—even two-on-one, those low-lifes wouldn't be a problem for the hero.

As soon as the thought crossed the flame-wielder's mind, she noticed one of the two burglars racing out the front door with Silver hot on his heels. The unfortunate miscreant didn't get more than a few paces before the moonlight-powered hero took him down, but Ember noticed no signs that he was holding any of the unlucky duo's loot. Duly alerted, Nicole scanned the area, noticing the second miscreant attempting to sneak out of the back door, just as Marji had predicted. Sure enough, clenched in his fist were the ill-gotten gains.

Slowly, she rose from her crouching position, waiting for him to pass her did. Once he passed by—so close that she could see him shaking from fear—she began to silently follow behind him, smiling to herself for a few seconds before casually tapping the terrified man on the shoulder.

The burglar jumped and turned, wheeling around just in time to be met by Ember's fist as she drove it into his face. Normally it took more than that to take down a criminal, as the teen was not exceptionally strong, but the robber had already taken quite a beating from Silver, and dropped: out for the count.

"You're going to have a heck of a headache tomorrow, buddy," Ember muttered as she dragged the limp form over to the unconscious form of his partner. Marji let her truss them up for the police as she replaced the loot within the store.

Almost before the two heroes had finished wrapping up the simple job, one of Marji's homeless informants ran up to them, whispered something in the older woman's ear, then scurried back off again.

Nicole saw her mentor's already-pale face go white, noting that Silver's mouth was now set in a hard line. Whatever she'd just learned, it was bad. "Orders?" she asked, the one-word question indicating that she knew that this was no time for teasing, joking around, or even extra words: time was of the essence.

"Follow me. We've got a few minutes to head off an assassination attempt a few blocks up from here." With that, the silver-clad hero took off at a steady lope, with her protégé right behind her.

Within moments, they rounded a corner and saw the apartment building the potential victim lived in. Scaling up the wall, keeping to the shadows, was a black-clad figure they could barely make out. This guy wasn't quite League of Shadow's-level, but still: an assassin was an assassin. With a gesture, Marji indicated that Ember should take point this time, and the older hero would provide support, as well as preventing any escape.

Nicole knew that this was technically a gesture of trust, but she still felt the weight of the high stakes pressing down on her—a man's life was at stake. Taking a deep breath, she fixed her sight on the rapidly climbing figure, launching a fireball that burst on the building just in front of the would-be assassin, causing the man to drop to the ground.

With a snarl, he turned on the girl who dared to interfere with his job. Nicole tried to summon a confident smirk, but even this early on in the battle, she realized the criminal she was facing was just as fast and strategic as she was—if not more so. She fought desperately, knowing that the assassin was too close for Marji to interfere long-range. Ember could hear her mentor running up to help, but before Marji reached them, Nicole was slammed to the ground, her head cracking painfully against the sidewalk, causing her to see double. The assassin turned to climb again, but now Silver had arrived on the scene, standing protectively in front of her protégé and knocking the would-be killer out with a lance of moonlight.

Once she was sure he was down, Marji turned to Nicole and offered a hand, helping her to her feet. Ember blushed, embarrassed how badly she'd messed up, jeopardizing a man's life in the process. Glancing at the sky, which was only a few hours from lightening, Silver frowned slightly. "Time to call it a night, Ember," she decided at last. "Let's go home."

Nicole followed silently, still brooding about the almost-disaster she'd been at fault for. _*Am I ever going to get the hang of this? At this rate, I just don't know what would happen when and if I ever work solo.*_

Finally, the two arrive at home. Ember tried to slip upstairs, still stewing. Before she could escape, she felt her mentor lay a hand on her shoulder. "Don't sweat it, Nicole," Marji offered. "He was a tough character. You're doing well, trust me, and learning a _lot_ faster than I did when I first started."

"Thanks," the teen responded, still not completely convinced but appreciating the effort. She was unable to suppress a yawn, and managed to slip away, calling over her shoulder, "Oh, and good night."

Exhausted, she dragged herself upstairs to her room, shedding her Ember costume and hiding it before changing into her PJ's and flopping into bed. Out of habit, she ran over the events of the night's patrol in her head, doing a self-assessment of her performance. Halfway through, however, she drifted to sleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Nicole Zeta'd to the Hall of Justice to meet up with the rest of Alpha for their shift 'on call', yawning and half-asleep. Bitterly, she mused that the large mug of coffee she'd drained out of pure desperation (not being a huge coffee person) hadn't done much for her wakefulness. "<em>*Yawn*<em> I'm not tired," she insisted quietly to herself, "I'm just conserving energy."

Alpha had just finished exchanging greetings when the Zeta tubes behind them activated yet again. The four exchanged glances, as if asking who it could be. Ember turned in time to see Bart, aka Kid Flash, appear, his usual, half-mad grin and the words, "I got bored," all he offered by the way of explanation.

"A bored speedster?" Nicole asked in mock-horror. "That has the potential to get _very_ dangerous _very_ quickly."

Bart laughed at that—the two teased each other often, in a younger-brother/older-sister sort of way. As if agreeing with Ember's teasing sentiment, M'Gann and Connor excused themselves from the group, saying something about 'administrative work' that ad to be seen to. This left the younger three on their own, so Nicole stood to one side, feeling like she was a chaperone of sorts. The younger boys horsed around and teased each other good-naturedly. Normally, the red-haired girl would've joined in, but she still felt heavy with the lack of sleep and refrained for a bit.

From the other room, M'Gann called, "Gar, did you finish your math homework yet?"

"No, but—" the changeling began, not no avail.

"No 'but's, you know the rules," Miss M insists. "Homework—_now_!"

Reluctantly, Beast Boy dragged himself from the room, leaving Ember and Kid Flash behind. "Can't say I blame the kid," Nicole said at last. "It takes a particular kind of person to enjoy homework of any kind, let alone math."

Bart laughed at that, and the two slipped into their usual banter, though Nicole noticed that she wasn't keeping up as well as she normally did, courtesy of her late night. Suddenly, Kid Flash stopped and spoke in a different, though still light-hearted tone. "Hey, uh, Ember? Do you mind if I ask you a weird question?"

Nicole shrugged, saying glibly, "Just as a warning—it'll be a question-for-question trade-off." Inside, however, she was stealing herself up, preparing to fend off any attempt to reveal parts of her past she'd long-since buried.

Bart hesitated, as if unsure how to phrase his question, or as if he were afraid of the answer he could get, or even as if he were still considering Ember's counter-offer. Finally, he blurted out: "Why do you work with Silver if you don't have the same powers?" His tone quickly slipped to 'rambling' as he continued his inquiry. "I mean, most people are taken on by mentors _because_ they have the same powers, but you and Silver are really different from each other." He clapped both hands over his mouth as if trying to forcibly stop himself from speaking. As silence fell, Nicole thought about the answer, choosing each word carefully.

"We kept helping each other out," she began, speaking slowly and deliberately, gaze fixed on the floor, "so we kept getting in each other's debt. Eventually we decided to just forget the record and work together officially." She fell silent, and didn't look up.

As the significant pause stretched on and Ember still didn't meet his gaze, Bart seemed to sense just _how_ close his question had brought him to a sensitive topic. He still didn't know the specifics, and his question hadn't really been answered, but it didn't really matter anymore. In a serious tone Ember had never heard him use before, he said, "Ember, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you—"

"Backstories are dangerous territory sometimes," Nicole offered, cutting off the speedster's apology as she looked up. Then, with a shrug and a carefully calm tone: "You didn't know."

The significant silence turned awkward, stretching on for another few moments, until Kid Flash said with somewhat-forced cheer: "So, I guess I owe you the chance to ask a question." Regaining some of his cheer, he struck a comedic pose as he declared, "What do you want to know?"

She wracked her brain for a lighthearted question, defaulting on: "How'd you end up with two nicknames: 'Impulse' as well as 'KF'?"

"Because I was called 'Impulse' before I became Kid Flash," Bart answered with a half-shrug. "When Wally died, I took over as the new Kid Flash. Before that, I was just Impulse. Most of the Team's known me longer as Impulse, so they still slip up, sometimes."

It made sense, now that she thought about it. She remembered members of the Team talking about Bart taking up the mantle after Wally died, but Nicole hadn't thought about what the speedster must've gone by before. "I can see why they'd still slip up. So, I guess that's it for question-and-answer time."

Bart laughed at that, then raced off without explanation. A second alter, he returned, staggering under the weight of all the food he was carrying. Suddenly, he looked over at Nicole. "I'm sorry—did you want me to grab you some, too?" Nicole started laugh, and Bart grinned sheepishly. "What? I have a speedster's metabolism—remember?"

They continued to tease and laugh, Nicole feeling herself achieve full wakefulness at about the time that the rest of Bart's squad began to arrive, ready to relieve Alpha and let them head on up to the Watchtower once more.


	10. 9 Trouble Brewing

**Hello, ModernDayBard here with this week's chapter! As always, I don't own Young Justice or its associated characters. But I do have my oc's and the idea for this plot, so if you steal them, I will set Moony, Black Fang, AND Morwinn on you. You have been warned!**

After bidding farewell to Kid Flash and regrouping with the rest of Alpha, Nicole followed her squad to the Watchtower. This time, upon arriving at the Watchtower's 'mission control room', she was not surprised to see Nightwing standing there, working next Aqualad. Now that she knew what the mission meant to the detective, she understood why he put in the hours that he did, but still, the redhead privately wondered when the poor guy actually slept—or if he did at all.

For once, he nodded pleasantly at her in greeting, the barest hint of a smile evident beneath the exhaustion and stress in his expression. Still, he wasted no time in getting down to business. "Alpha squad," he called, "new mission. We have a new lead on our primary case—we're tracking a confirmed member who's pretty high up the chain of command, possibly even the leader's right-hand. She can manipulate shadows and darkness, and, from what we've heard, she calls herself 'Black Fang'. She's likely the one who broke 'Moony' out, given her powers. It's time to bring her in."

Alpha squad sprang into action, getting further instructions from their leaders, entering tracking information into the Bioship's system, and settling on a capture strategy. Black Fang was currently in Bludhaven, and Nightwing was helping them make a plan that used the twisting alleyways to their advantage. The plan was to have Beast Boy and Miss Martian deploy first, tracking and herding the target, using their shape-shifting abilities to block her escape, and force her into a dead-end alley way, where Superboy and Ember would be waiting to capture her.

* * *

><p>This time, the flight on the bio-ship was less silent, as the four members of Alpha discussed the strategy, as well as the possible implications of the latest development. Just as Nicole and Gar were getting caught up in a discussion of how to keep Black Fang from escaping once she was captured and brought back for questioning, Connor announced, "It's time to split up. M'Gann, you and Gar are up."<p>

The two shapeshifters deployed, and Connor took over the helm of the Bioship and maneuvered the small craft to the area where he and Ember were to wait, still in camo mode. The two were forced to wait in hiding, following the chase via the mind-link Miss M had established. Nicole was tense, but things seemed to be going well...until they unexpectedly lost her, that is.

The teen could feel the others' desperation—courtesy, again, of the psychic link—as they carefully yet frantically searched for signs of their quarry. After an agonizing few minutes, and just before Superboy gave the order to call the mission a failure, Beast Boy calls silently: _*Got her! Get in position, guys; she's almost there!*_

Superboy glanced at the girl behind him, and the two stood in unison, silently exiting the Bioship and moving through the shadows to their respective positions on opposite sides of the cul-de-sac. Nicole was nervous, since it would be _her_ job to block Black Fang's retreat when the confrontation began.

Just as the two were in position, the fleeing figure entered the trap. Right on cue, the entry ways were blocked by Miss M and Gar, who was in his gorilla-form. Superboy appeared in front of the target, leaving Black Fang only one way to run—right towards Ember.

Taking a deep breath, the flame-wielder stepped from hiding and faced down the black-cloaked figure of a girl a few years older than herself. Her black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and when she turned to face Ember, her eyes blazed silver. Rather than show fear, Black Fang grinned, exposing a single (fang which the cynical part of Nicole's mind noted was actually a normal shade of white, with not a touch of black on it).

Then the strange girl thrust out her right hand, and a shadowy sword formed in her grip. Once it was complete, the vampiric figure charged Ember. Instinctively, Nicole formed a shield of fire to block the attack, but Black Fang feinted at the last moment, and her dark blade barely made contact with the redhead's left hip—which she'd injured after falling out of a tree years before, when she was almost ten. The injury hadn't bothered her in years, but all of a sudden, the pain flared up again like the accident had just happened, and Nicole collapsed, biting her lip to try to keep from screaming. As Black Fang ran past, making her escape, Ember tried to blast her with a fireball, but her aim was off, and the target vanished into the night.

_*_ _Maybe her power is sensing and re-aggravating old injuries? That could make her hard to fight.*_

As embarrassed as she felt about the mistake, the others did not have time to comment on her failing. "Quick!" Superboy called out. "Split up and cut her off—we can't let her get away!"

Everyone nodded and took off running, fanning out as they recalled the different routes Nightwing had briefed them on before they embarked on the mission. The pain in her hip now faded, Nicole scrambled to her feet and began to run at full speed. _*Okay, Nicole,* _the teen thought to herself, carefully blocking her personal pep-talk from the psychic link, _*we're facing someone who prefers swords, apparently. Plan your fighting style accordingly.*_

M'Gann was the first to get close to their quarry, but Black Fang simply opened a portal of darkness and teleported several alleys away, leaving the Martian completely turned around. Beastboy was next (still in gorilla form), but again, the strange girl showed no fear, only taking a few seconds to open a hole of darkness under his feet and temporarily trap him before racing on. Superboy didn't fare much better, and soon, it was just Nicole face-to-face with the mysterious figure, the only one able to rescue the mission that was heading quickly for a crash-and-burn.

For some reason, Black Fang seemed to wait for Ember, stopping just short of the edge of the city. Desperate to distract her from escape, and hoping to rattle the so-far unflappable criminal, Nicole called out: "So your buddy was a werewolf. What're you supposed to be: the boogey man?"

The taunt apparently worked, and the older girl whirled on the flame-wielder, shadowy sword raised. This time, Nicole was somewhat ready for her, and managed to stretch the fight to several seconds. Still, it became frighteningly clear that Black Fang was familiar with the young hero's fighting style, and seemed to be able to anticipate her various moves. Moments later, with a quick flourish, she got under Ember's guard and then behind her, slamming the back of Nicole's head with the surprisingly solid hilt of her sword-of-shadows, and the surprised girl lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>When Nicole woke up, she was on the Bioship, and she could tell from the grim looks on the faces of the others that Black Fang had gotten away after all. When she tried to sit up, or at least roll on to her back (she'd woken up lying on her right side), M'Gann stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Take it slowly, Nicole. She got you pretty badly. I'm still trying to wash the blood off."<p>

Ember froze at that, imaging Marji's reaction when she arrived at home. "How much blood are we talking about?"

"It looks worse than it is," Connor replied, just moving into her line of sight. "Head wounds tend to bleed a lot, but even considering that, it's not that bad. M'Gann just wanted to get it cleaned up before it clotted or anything. Anyway, we're almost back at the Watchtower."

Those seven words served as a reminder of the reason behind the somber mood on the Martian craft. Alpha squad, with two of the most experienced Team members, not to mention some of it's more promising potential, had utterly failed in their mission, which had been one of their few chances to get intel regarding their mysterious enemies and their plan. Nicole, especially, was in a sour mood as they docked and reported back. She knew the others didn't blame her, but she felt that an objective perspective would find her at fault for Black Fang's escape.

* * *

><p>Nightwing watched her leave the mission room, ostensibly bound for home, an all-too familiar behind her eyes as she tried not to reach back and touch the still-fresh head wound. <em>*She wasn't looking anyone in the eye when Alpha reported back,* <em>he noted, unable to turn his mind off of 'nosy detective mode'._*You know, for someone who told __me__ not to blame myself, I think she has trouble following her own advice. Maybe I should say something to her...*_

For some reason he couldn't verbalize, that thought made him nervous as he spared one final glance at Nicole's retreating form. _*Maybe some other time; she's probably tired, right now...*_

* * *

><p>Nicole was grateful that the embarrassing debriefing didn't last long, and she joined a very dispirited Alpha squad in heading for the Zeta tubes. Halfway there, she stopped, suddenly very aware that she did <em>not<em> feel like heading home to face Silver right at that moment. She glanced around, hoping for an excuse to stick around for a bit. She remembered that Delta was the squad currently on duty, which meant that Tigress, Kid Flash, Static, and Blue Beetle were all somewhere on the orbiting station.

_Not to mention Aqualad and Nightwing,*_ she reminded herself, thinking of the debriefing she'd left with deep regret and shame. _*Now I think I understand what Nightwing meant about feeling responsible.*_ Ember knew that the others wouldn't hold her solely responsible, but that did not nor could not stop her form feeling like she was, in a way.

As the redhead stood, indecisive, downcast, and still with a headache, Virgil came up to her. "Hey, Ember!" he called, but his enthusiasm seemed mixed with concern. "I heard what happened," he admitted. "How are you doing?"

"Not the best, truth be told," was her honest reply.

Static seemed to understand, and also to have noticed her reluctance to head home. "Hey, if you want to stick around for a bit, there's not much going on right now."

"Sounds good."

After a moment of silence, the younger teen ventured, "Do you want—or need—to talk about it?"

Nicole shook her head, then winced at the flare of paint he movement caused. "Not right now," she said at last, extremely grateful that he let it rest and didn't press the issue. Virgil apparently understood needing time, but not space.

"Do you skateboard, Nicole?"

The older girl caught on that her friend was offering the chance to change the mood, so she played along. "I've been meaning to learn," she fibbed, "but just never got around to it."

"If you want," he replied as expected, grin not diminishing at her response, "I can teach you."

She stared at him, asking only: "Here?"

Static grinned in response. "Hey, the fun part is improvising tricks off what's around. There are more opportunities here than you'd think. Plus, there are enough long, empty halls for a beginner to get started on." With a shrug, he summarized: "It's pretty much perfect. What do you say?"

It didn't take much thought.

"I'll give it a go."

* * *

><p>Virgil started Nicole out with the basics—balance, forward motion, stopping, turning, and (after one almost-disaster) how to recover from a bad fall. Ember struggled at first, and knew that this was not a skill she'd take naturally to. Contrary to the available evidence, Virgil never lost his grin, and seemed to honestly mean it every time he told her: "You're actually learning very quickly!"<p>

_*Yeah, right,*_ was her silent retort, but she held her tongue, knowing Static was only trying to help her. Besides, hopeless or not, she _was_ having fun.

The two took a quick break. When they came back, Static's grin had turned downright mischievous. "Well, now that you've got the basics down, it's time you learned some tricks!"

Nicole had to swallow some nerves, but she at least tried everything he asked her to. The few tricks were not too complex, but Virgil was not afraid to push his older friend, for which she was grateful. The lesson was proving to be just the distraction she needed, and she felt her initial clumsiness fading.

_*I feel I've likely settled at the level of 'decently competent'*_ she decided at last.

* * *

><p>After that segment of the lesson, the two heroes took a longer break to get something to drink and to catch their breath, talking and laughing about the various mistakes and tricks they'd both over the past hour.<p>

Nicole had to smile as she mused inwardly, _*_ _Static sure knows how to stop someone from stewing.*_ Just then, the knot on the back of her head where she'd been struck by Black Fang's sword flared up again. Instinctively, she winced and reached back to touch it, the movement catching Virgil's attention.

Merriment giving way to worry he asked, "You okay? Has it been hurting this whole time?"

"Don't worry about it," she insisted, trying to put him at ease. "I've been hit a lot harder."

He didn't seem completely reassured, but he tried to follow the flame-wielder's lead and not dwell on it. "I guess I know the feeling," he managed at last, "for a few days after the Team sprung me from that Reach ship, some of the stuff they did to me still hurt."

"Yeah," Nicole mumbled with a nod, thinking of her own experience. "Same here."

Static blinked at her, surprised. "Nicole—you're a Reach kid, too?"

Ember could've swallowed her tongue, realizing she'd just let slip more than she ever had before—to anyone but Silver. Taking a deep breath, she said quietly, not wanting to relive the memories too much, "I think I was one of their guinea pigs, based on the timing."

With that revelation now in the open, they both fell silent, as if searching for a new topic of conversation. Before either could find one, a prodigious yawn slipped out past Nicole's guard. True to the contagious nature of yawns, Virgil yawned as well. The two exchanged a grin, the awkward tension pushed aside more-or-less from sheer willpower, relaxation and exhaustion slipping in to take its place. Static rocked back in his chair a little. "So, Ember—you feel better now?"

"Yep," Nicole responded honestly. "You were right. Thanks." It was about then that she realized how late at night it was—or rather, how early in the morning. Deciding that she couldn't keep Marji waiting any longer, she headed for the Zeta tubes, bidding farewell to Static, trying to think of how to explain the failed mission to her mentor.


	11. 10 Before the Storm

**Hello, ModernDayBard here with this week's chapter! As always, I don't own Young Justice or its associated characters. But I do have my oc's and the idea for this plot, so if you want to use them, you must ask me first or suffer the consequences (and now you know why you should fear Black Fang).**

Nicole's hesitation had proved unfounded: Silver understood that sometimes missions didn't go as planned. If anything, she was worried about the head wound her protégé had sustained. Nicole was uncomfortable with the attention, but let Marji inspect and re-bandage the shallow wound just to get her mentor to leave her alone.

* * *

><p>By the time three days had passed, the memory of the debacle still stung, but had been forcibly shoved to the back of Nicole's mind, if only so that she could not continue to beat herself up over it. Besides, she had to return to work at the bookstore (inventing a story about a skateboarding accident to explain the still-noticeable injury), which necessitated fully immersing herself in 'normal life'.<p>

The day had been quiet, uneventful, but Nicole had been unable to shake an air of uneasiness that had nothing to do with the mission. She'd tried to pretend that everything was normal, and, as none of her coworkers knew her well enough to see through her act, the illusion had yet to be shattered.

Now the end of her shift was in sight, with still no sign of the half-anticipated disaster. She left the store at last, her mood somewhere between uncomfortable, discontented, and a little on edge. There was no time for introspection, however, as she noticed two figures waiting for her on the sidewalk. It took the teen a moment to recognize M'Gann in her Caucasian 'Megan' form and civilian clothes, but once she did, she realized the blonde young woman beside her was Artemis, also out of costume.

They waved when their friend made eye contact, and Nicole walked over to them, doing her best to summon a smile and a cheerful tone as he called out, "Oh, hi! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hey, Nicole!" Artemis called in reply. "We were just going to grab something to eat with some of the others. Want to come?"

The red-haired girl was confused. "Others?" she asked, uncertain.

M'Gann—er, Megan—spoke in a low voice, but still with a smile. "Some of the other women on the Team and League. Every now and again, we get together for a little 'girl time'. Interested?"

"I'm in," Nicole replied, privately wondering why she'd heard nothing about this until now.

* * *

><p>They were the first three to arrive at the restaurant, and were led to what turned out to be the group's 'usual table' outside. Before the new girl could as who else would be coming, the second group—consisting of Bumblebee, Wondergirl, and Batgirl—arrive and take their seats. Because they were in full view and earshot of the sidewalk only a few yards away, the small talk was kept to 'civilian matters' in order to protect their secret identities.<p>

Karen had just finished a funny story about some the escapades of some freshmen at her college who seemed to be lacking some common sense, when Black Canary, Rocket, and Zatana came outside and sat, leaving only one seat unoccupied. Nicole glanced at it questioningly, and Cassie leaned over and whispered, "One more's coming, but she's going to be a bit late. She said to start without her."

Nicole sat quietly, trying to puzzle out who the last arrival could be, as it seemed that every female member of the League or Team that had a strong connection to the Team was present. She also couldn't deny that she felt the sensation of being the 'new kid' returning a bit, leaving her on the fringes of a well-established group. The others refused to let that last long, however, and made a point to include the flame-wielder. Soon, she was talking and laughing with them like she'd been coming to these get-togethers for years.

The restaurant's wait staff was obviously used to this group and others like it, because they waited a little longer than usual to come and get the orders, leaving the women time to laugh, chat, and enjoy good company. Finally, though, it was time to order. Nicole finally decided on a summer salad, as it was her personal philosophy to order unique dishes or things offered for a short period of time.

Whoever the final arrival was supposed to be, she was certainly taking her time, Nicole noticed when the food was almost gone. It wasn't until the women were discussing which deserts they would/should/shouldn't order that the final member of their group finally put in an appearance. It was Silver, and the mischievous grin on her face began to stir some suspicion in her protégé, who had not forgotten her earlier mood entirely, or the reasons behind it.

While the others greeted Marji, one of the waiters approached with a desert, despite the fact that none of them had ordered yet. He set it in front of Nicole, who was surprised to see it was a slice of her favorite cake—one that she'd been almost certain this restaurant didn't carry.

She looked up, intending to ask the waiter her questions, but the man had disappeared. Instead, she saw the other women in her group smiling at her eagerly. Someone—probably Cassie, but Nicole was too stunned to notice—started singing, and the other joined in:

"Happy birthday to you; happy birthday to you…"

Nicole felt her face flush, and she was suddenly uncomfortable.

"…happy birthday, dear Nicole—happy birthday to you!"

The _nine_teen-year-old never liked it when people celebrated her birthday (normally it wasn't an issue, as it had been just her and Marji for several years), but the others all looked so proud of and excited about their surprise for her, especially Marji, that she put a good face on it, and tried her best to enjoy herself. For all their good intentions, most of the group didn't know her well enough to know that her good mood was far from genuine. Still, Nicole knew that Marji wasn't fooled. Thankfully, though, the newest member of the league did not betray her protégé's true mood.

* * *

><p>Once they arrived home, however, all bets were off. All the way back, Ember hadn't said much, hoping that Silver would respect the fact that this was one of those times she just wanted privacy.<p>

It wasn't.

"Okay, Nicole: spill," the dark-haired young woman demanded. "What's wrong? I thought that, after all the years with just the two of us, you'd love to celebrate your birthday with your new friends. Did something go wrong at work today?"

The nineteen-year-old wished she was anywhere else, doing anything but having this conversation. "It was a really cool idea—and a nice group," she tried, knowing Marji would see through the blatant attempt at question-dodging even as she spoke. "I'm fine; really."

She should've known her mentor wasn't going to let it slide, not when she could tell that something was wrong. "Nicole, the truth. _Now_."

Ember hesitated, but it was already clear that Marji wasn't going to let this—or her—go without an answer. "I-It's kind of two-fold," she admitted at last. "First off, for years, Karl was the only one who remembered and celebrated my birthday. It was always something, just for the two of us. Then…" She took a deep breath and continued in a shakier voice. "Then, the 'present' on my twelfth birthday…was—he wasn't going to let them separate us. That was when we ran away…when—when the Reach got us." With a shrug, she finished simply. "Birthdays just weren't the same, after that.

Nicole paused to take in her mentor's almost-guilty expression, and feeling embarrassed, tried to wave it off. "Anyway, maybe it's about time I changed that. So, thanks."

Silently, Marji stepped aside, allowing her protégé to continue upstairs. Once she reached her room, Ember discovered the reason Silver had been late to the party. Apparently, some friends from the Team had given Silver gifts for her—Nicole—and Marji had left them on her sidekick's bed. Quietly, the redhead crossed to the bed and sat beside the packages, turning them over in her hands. That used to be how her brother would give her his gift when it was just the two of them, all those years before.

Without really thinking about them, she read the labels, taking in the names of her friends and teammates as she opened the gifts quietly. She still wasn't comfortable with her own birthday, but she was touched that, after only a few weeks, so many people seemed to care about her. _*Even Nightwing,*_ She noted, looking at the gift in her hands. At last, she went to bed, her mind churning with all the mixed emotions and mixed memories the day had conjured.

As she drifted off to sleep, memories of a rather different birthday filtered through her dreams…

* * *

><p>It was her ninth—a few months after she had discovered a new satire series that was actually literary criticism in disguise as fiction. The young girl been talking her brother's ear off about the series since she'd finished the first book, and finally, a few weeks ago, he snapped at Nicole, telling her to shut up about the books.<p>

The two didn't fight often, so this was a rare occurrence. Nicole had been hurt, avoiding her brother, then searching for a way to apologize, unsuccessfully. That night, she slipped into her room, still feeling sorry for upsetting Karl.

There, sitting on your bed like every year, was a single present. The note on the paper said: "I'm sorry. You were right—it IS a good series. Hopefully, this book is just as good. Happy birthday, squirt." The little girl carefully removed the wrapping paper, revealing a book claiming to be a collection of the funniest book reviews—both positive and negative.

She looked up to see Karl standing in the doorway, looking sheepish. The redhead ran to him, and did something that the two hadn't done as much since Karl had hit the 'teenage years' a few months before: she hugged him. In a final blow to the buried argument, he hugged her back.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the city, a young man took a moment alone, away from his friends, and pulled out a photograph he'd never let them see. The photo was of a boy and a girl, about ages 16 and 12. The two looked a bit rumpled—and maybe a tad underfed—after a few weeks on their own, but the grins on their faces as they posed together in the photo booth plainly said that, as long as they had each other, they'd be fine.<p>

"We had no idea just what was in store, did we, sis?" Karl muttered under his breath. "I just wish I could've helped you see sense. But I guess we've both picked our paths." The young man looked up from the picture, a wry grin on his face as he whispered, "Happy 19th, Nicole."

* * *

><p>When Nicole went downstairs the next morning, it was pretty clear that Marji was still thinking about previous night's revelation, and quite possibly still feeling guilty about masterminding the previous day's birthday celebration. Unable to meet her gaze, the nineteen-year-old kept to an abbreviated form of her morning routine, bent on getting out of the house as soon has humanly possible. Reactions like that one were the main reasons that Nicole didn't tell her mentor much about her past, especially her complicated relationship with her brother: after Marji found out, she always seemed to blame herself for not knowing…as if she could or should've somehow known the truth.<p>

She wasn't scheduled to work that particular day, so, without much of a plan and without anywhere else that she absolutely _had_ to be, Ember decided to head to the Hall of Justice early.

_*If I'm remembering right, it's Delta who's on-call right now.*_

* * *

><p>Of course, if Silver's protégé had been expecting to be able to escape the main source of her melancholy musings, she was sadly misled. As soon as the members of Delta noticed Nicole arriving, they greeted her with choruses of : "Hey, Ember, how was your birthday?" and "Happy birthday, Ember!"<p>

She wanted to sink through the floor. Had Marji told _everyone_? Still, she pasted on a grin, pretending as best as she could. As much as she simply wanted to bolt for the hills immediately, the rational part of her mind knew that would only serve to exacerbate any questions or prying. So, with no other viable options, the fire-wielder once more faked a good mood, and responded to the well-wishes with generic platitudes, until she finally found an opportunity to slip away unobtrusively.

Just when she felt more-or-less under control, Nicole heard someone approaching her from behind. She turned to see Jaime standing there, a little awkwardly, and she did her best to smile reassuringly. No matter how many times the two had talked, the Hispanic hero had always seemed a little hesitant or shy.

"Ember—Nicole—a-re you okay? I don't mean to pry," he quickly assured her. "It's just that you…well, you seem distracted today. I was just wondering if it was—if it was something I could help with," he finally managed to finish at last.

The older girl tried to muster a genuine smile for his sake, as weak as she knew it was. "I know you all meant well, but I'm not a fan of celebrating my birthday, honestly." She fell silent, admittedly surprised that she'd said as much as she had.

For his part, Jaime's reaction was reminiscent of Marji's—that is to say, guilty—which only served to make Nicole feel worse. She hated people feeling sorry for her, or upset for her sake, so she desperately searched for something cheerful to say. "I wasn't expecting a present; thanks."

Jaime shrugged, grinning a little sheepishly. "I-I'm glad you liked it. It just seemed like the right thing to do…if I had known that your birthday upset you—"

At that, Ember felt she had to cut him off. "It's fine, _really_, Jaime. It's about time I got out of my birthday funk, anyway. What better way to do that than celebrating with friends like a normal person?"

The younger teen had to smile at that, but he didn't seem to have a reply. The silence stretched to around four or five seconds as both heroes fumbled in their minds for a new topic of conversation. "So," Jaime managed at last, clearing his throat, "need a distraction, Nicole?"

"I'd say: yes," was her honest reply. "It's high time for one."

His smile grew wider, more genuine and enthusiastic at her reply. "Alright then! Follow me."

"Where to?"

"The training room," he answered, "Or—as KF has aptly dubbed it—the show-off room."

Nicole had to laugh at the (admittedly accurate) quip, and followed Jaime eagerly. Once they arrived, Jaimie gave a little bow, gesturing for the redhead to go first. Taking a deep breath, she did a quick mental scan of her list of 'show-off' moves, before finally settling on one she'd been working on in case she ever face Black Fang again. Thrusting out her right hand, she summoned a sword completely composed of flickering, dancing flames that could (hopefully) match the shadow-blade. Concentrating, Nicole gave the blade a few flourishes, before executing a series of 'fighting forms' to demonstrate how the sword could keep its form. Finally, she let it dissipate, and ceded the floor to Jaime.

"Not bad," he admitted as his scarab armor activated, "but watch this!"

He then proceeded to demonstrate his considerable arsenal and remarkable control thereof: using his blades to slice practice dummies or block blank rounds, then switching to his sonic cannons, plasma cannons, and eventually finishing with the weapon Nicole had always considered the 'staple gun on steroids.' She had to admit, it was an impressive show.

His display finished, he returned control of the floor to her with a smug challenge: "Beat that, Hermana."

_*Oh, I intend to.*_

Nicole took a few steps forward, gathering her focus and preparing to try something she'd only done once or twice—and never on a mission, or for anyone other than Silver. She held out her right hand again, this time palm up, and willed a small tongue of flame to appear in the middle of her hand. Once it sprang to life, Ember took control, making it flare and dim, then race up her right arm and down her left. From there it vanished, then appeared at the tip of her toe, quickly racing up to the crown of her head. A little more mental effort, and the nineteen-year-old made the fire take the form of a small ball, which she began to toss and kick as if it were a hacky-sack. As Blue Beetle watched, the one small ball split into three, which his friend now juggled in several trick patterns.

_*Now for the big finale.*_

One deep breath, and then there were flames completely encasing her whole body, though they didn't burn her clothes. (She was extremely grateful to learn that the fire she summoned never seemed to damage her clothing. The same could not be said of naturally occurring fire, however, hence why her 'Ember' costume was flame-proof.) She heard Jaimie stifle a yelp, but she didn't turn to face him—this was the part that took the most concentration. The fire flared brightly, then suddenly dimmed until it was almost extinguished, leaving just the glow of a bright ember bed, which in turn died out as well.

Exhausted but not wanting to show it, Nicole managed a triumphant smile as she turned to face Jaime. "What'd you think?" she managed at last, breathing slightly hard after the exertion of keeping her power and concentration in check. She had to smile at his stunned, wordless reaction.

_*Jaime, you might want to pick your jaw up off of the floor…then peel your eyebrows off of the ceiling.*_

Just when Jaime seemed to recover himself enough to make some kind of intelligent, coherent comment, he was interrupted by Tigress poking her head into the room.

"Jaimie!" she called, voice urgent. "Nightwing just called from the Watchtower—emergency mission! Ember, you come too; we'll need all the hands we can get!"

Though she'd felt exhausted a moment before, Ember felt adrenaline coursing through her body, preparing her for the mission to come—whatever that was.

**So, yeah. More backstory mysteries—just to show how much I love you guys. Anyway, if you saw something you liked, or something you think I should fix/can improve on, don't hesitate to leave a review and let me know!**


	12. 11 Forceful Fears

**Hello, ModernDayBard here with this week's chapter! As always, I don't own Young Justice or its associated characters. But I do have my oc's and the idea for this plot, and that's enough for me!**

Heart hammering in her chest at the thought of an 'emergency mission', Nicole followed Delta in the direction of the Zeta tubes, but before the squad could teleport anywhere, they were met by Aqualad and Nightwing, who'd just arrived from the Watchtower.

"The targets are here in DC," Aqualad offered by way of explanation before anyone could voice their questions. "It makes no sense to waste time by having you come to the Watchtower, only to send you back down."

Ember's eyes widened at that—being in a time crunch was never a good sign. It was also not lost on the young hero that Aqualad had mentioned target_s_, plural.

"Is it—?"

Nightwing cut off Tigress unfinished question with a single nod. "Yeah, it's them. They're striking and striking _hard_—multiple targets. Beta's coming in now from the Watchtower and we've contacted Alpha and Gamma, but until they get here, we'll have to prioritize."

"First priority is the hospital," Aqualad continued, taking over from the detective and slipping into 'leader mode', "we've got at least two meta-powered attackers striking there. Delta, Nightwing, and Ember will take them out. Beta and Gamma have their assignments, and I will meet with the rest of Alpha. Ember, you will rendezvous with us once the situation at the hospital is under control. Everyone understand?"

"Yes!" all the assembled heroes chorused in unison, before running off to carry out their objectives.

* * *

><p>Once the squad of young heroes arrived at the hospital, there was no question as to who was in charge.<p>

"Impulse, Beetle," Nightwing called, "help with the evacuation. Tigress, you and Static take the North and East quadrants and look for our attackers. Ember and I will take the South and West Quadrants."

The members of delta acknowledged the orders and scattered to their 'duty stations.'

"Alright," Nicole managed, trying to keep her mind on the job and off of the fact that her heart rate had picked up (quite without her permission) at the thought of working one-on-one with the dark-haired detective.

Without another word, she followed Nightwing into the parts of the nearly-deserted hospital that they had elected to search. Whoever they were looking for had struck hard and fast, causing the most damage and necessitating the evacuation, then had sat back. Once the responders arrived, the still-unidentified villains had caused smaller disasters, resulting in even more injuries. It was up to the young heroes to find and capture the culprits before they exacerbated the situation any further.

Almost as soon as the six of them had split up, Nightwing and Ember encountered their first target. The man was likely in his mid-twenties, with an unfamiliar, angular, brutish face and a cruel sneer. Given that he was standing in the center of a swirling windstorm that was causing melee and destruction, Nicole felt pretty confident he was one of their targets—especially given the fact that he was laughing as if endangering innocent lives was the most fun he'd had in months.

The two nineteen-year-old's sprang into action immediately. The redhead took the frontal approach, launching several fireballs at the stranger, effectively distracting him, causing his 'storm-shield' to falter, and focusing his attention on her, all at the same time. He turned on her with an animalistic growl and she crouched down into a defensive position, waiting for his next move.

Before her opponent could retaliate, Nightwing came up from behind him. A few strikes with the escrima sticks, and the unknown villain was down. The two spared a few moments to be sure he was well-secured before turning him over to the on-site authorities, but, as the crisis was far from over, there was no time to celebrate.

Without further incident, the two cleared the South quadrant and moved into the West quadrant. A chill ran down Nicole's spine, and she whirled to see Black Fang a short ways down one of the hospital's empty corridors. The vampiric girl had obviously noticed Ember as well, her silver eyes flashing in mocking triumph.

At the same moment, both girls summoned their blades—blazing fire and murky shadows—and quickly clashed. Nicole knew that she needed to concentrate on the fight to prevent a repeat of her last encounter with Black Fang, but in the back of her mind, she tried to maneuver the black-clad figure so that Nightwing would have a clear shot at her. However, just like the time before, the silver-eyed fiend seemed extremely familiar with Ember's fighting style. Nicole tried not to let that fact faze her, tried not to give Black Fang an edge, but she recognized that the fight wasn't going well.

_*Um, Nightwing? Anytime now would be good…*_

That wasn't exactly a fair thought, as from the corner of her eye she could see the detective trying to work around to Black Fang's blind spot. Before he got a clear shot, however, the enigmatic villain pulled back without warning. Throwing a smirk at the younger girl, the dark-haired fighter dispelled her dark sword and vanished in a whirl of shadows.

Neither young hero relaxed, as they didn't put an ambush past Black Fang. The entire time she was helping Nightwing and Delta get things under control at the hospital, Nicole kept looking over her shoulder, expecting the vampiric young woman to suddenly appear and renew her attack. The expected ambush never materialized, and no other attempts to interfere with the rescue effort were made, but that didn't help Ember to relax. Something about this mission was strange in a very unsettling way.

There was no time to puzzle over the incongruities however. "We've got this under control," Nightwing said at last, turning to the red-haired girl working beside him, "so you'd probably better rendezvous with Aqualad and your squad."

"Okay," she replied nodding, knowing time was of the essence. "Where?"

Even in the middle of the chaos, the dark-haired detective managed a smile at the oddness of his answer. "The National Zoo. Apparently our favorite group of crazies have let the most dangerous creatures out, endangering most of the city.

For the fraction of a moment, Nicole only stared at him, her face blank, unable to summon a response. _*What on earth do they __want__?*_

* * *

><p>Once she recovered her wits, Ember headed for the Zoo at top speed. As soon as the others spotted her, she felt M'Gann include her in the psychic link.<p>

_*Ember!*_ Aqualad silently called, _*As we recapture the escapees, can you use your powers to repair their exhibits and prevent them from getting out again?*_

_*You round them up, and I'll keep them in,*_ Ember answered as she jogged over to them.

The problem at hand was so massive that it required a triage of sorts. Aqualad deemed the big cats as the most dangerous, so that was where they focused their energy first. While the others rounded up the tigers, lions, and cheetahs, Nicole ran to the island-like habitat, trying to see how they escaped and what repairs were necessary.

It seemed that the large gaps between the exhibits and the railing that rimmed the 'viewing level' had been negated by several makeshift bridges that allowed the cats a way over the deep moat and up the sheer concrete wall. Remembering that Aqualad's plan had involved M'Gann using her telekinesis to return the animals to exhibits without a top, Ember knew that she could go ahead and destroy the bridges. By the time she had done so, most of the cats had been returned, and it was on to the next sub-section of the sprawling, confusing complex that was the National Zoo.

* * *

><p>Next up was the Africa section, and that required more running from Nicole, as the cages and habitats were more spread out. Some were cages whose locks needed to be heated, then molded back to their original shape in order to fix, others were exhibits more like the big cat's island that had breaches that needed to be destroyed.<p>

After nearly fifteen minutes of break-neck work, Ember was growling under her breath about the path's tendency to cut back on itself, hiding some of the more obscure creatures and making her job that much harder. Still, the nineteen-year-old reminded herself that things could have been _much_ worse. The Team had discovered that elephants showed no desire to stampede free of their exhibit, even with a readily available escape route. Apparently, their exhibit was so large that they didn't feel the need to explorer further. Still, just to be on the safe side, Ember performed the necessary repairs before running on, with one more mini-disaster to help avert.

* * *

><p>Whoever had released the animals had apparently ignored the reptile and small mammal houses, as well as most of the larger primates. However, they hadn't overlooked the Asia section, which involved almost as much running as the Africa trail had.<p>

As it was the final epicenter of chaos, Alpha and Aqualad threw everything into their efforts, no longer holding back. As they tried to prevent a major disaster, they were watched the whole time by the docile, uninterested eyes of the giant pandas, who apparently thought that running free and wild wasn't worth abandoning their bamboo snacks.

* * *

><p>Like at the hospital before, the Team was able to prevent any serious catastrophes, returning all of the animals to their proper places. Beta and Gamma reported similar success with their respective assignments, but Nicole couldn't shake the feeling that something about the scenario was just…wrong.<p>

Aqualad gave the all-clear signal, but before the others could celebrate, Ember spotted an all-too-familiar over-large wolf running away from the zoo, tail between his legs. Gar and Nicole started to run after him, but were stopped when Aqualad called over the mental link: _*There's no time! We've just gotten a mayday call form new York. We'll have to leave him for another time.*_

_*New York?*_ Beast Boy asked, echoing Nicole's thoughts. _*What's in New York?*_

_*Morwinn*_ came the answer, and Nicole felt a chill of worry replace her previous exhaustion as Aqualad continued. _*She just called Nightwing—both she and the museum are under attack!*_

Now realizing that the day's frantic events had been nothing more than an extremely dangerous and taxing diversion, Alpha, Delta, Nightwing, and Aqualad all converged on the nearest Zeta Tubes.

* * *

><p>Once in New York, the ten heroes ran at top speed in the direction of the museum where Alpha had first encountered their unusual ally, praying they'd be in time. As Nicole rounded the final corner before the museum, her heart caught in her throat—where the museum ought to have been was only a pile of rubble and damaged artifacts. Whatever happened had happened only a few moments before—the crowd of gawkers was small, and seemed to still be mostly in shock.<p>

"Was there anyone inside?" Aqualad demanded of a somewhat-dazed bystander.

"N-No," the man managed at last, "it was closed today…"

Nightwing rounded on the speaker, and was that worry Nicole could hear in his voice? "Did you see what happened?"

The man nodded frantically, the detective's intensity obviously having rattled him from his previous stupor. "Yeah, but I don't understand it: One moment, everything was normal; the next thing you know, there were these weird flashes of light, crashes like something was breaking, and the whole thing just collapsed!"

In the middle of the man's story, Ember drifted away from the crowd over to the wreckage, stomach clenching. Maybe she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about Morwinn, but the strange girl had asked for help, and they'd gotten there too late. The redhead tried not to think about the crushing pressure of all that wreckage, forcing herself to think optimistically.

_*Morwinn's not stupid, she has powers, and she would've had a few seconds to shield herself, or even teleport to safety. Let's not assume the worst just yet.*_

As the rest of the heroes joined her, Nicole looked around, trying to figure out where the best place was to start digging, in case their mysterious ally hadn't made it out of the museum. Movement caught the corner of her eye, and the flame-wielder whirled, noticing one section of the roof start to move, with a purple glow beneath it.

Superboy and Aqualad must've seen it at the same time she did, for the three converged on the spot and managed to lift the concrete slab enough for Morwinn to scramble partway out. Nightwing offered her a hand and helped her stand. The MMM's resident hero was dusty and a little scraped up, but mostly unhurt, for which Nicole breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?" several voices chorused nearly in unison.

The glare in her purple eyes hinted at the answer before she verbalized it. "_I'm_ fine, but those two-bit bozos got away with the Grell Rembar amulet! Not to mention all the _other _artifacts that are now damaged!"

The ghost of an amused smile passed over Nightwing's face, and the others heard, courtesy of the psychic link, _*If she's feeling well enough to complain about the state of the museum, then she's fine. Still, if the amulet's gone…*_ He didn't need to finish the thought. Whatever purpose the amulet served, it was now in the bad guys' hands.

Morwinn took a deep breath, and there was a hint of a shudder behind it. "Not sure if it helps, but one of them dropped this behind when they left, right before his buddy blew the main support column. And the one who dropped it seemed to be in charge." She held out a piece of paper with writing on it, saying without much hope: "Maybe you can make something of this—I sure can't."

Aqualad took the proffered message and read it aloud.

"_We only seek to claim what is ours by rights. We did not start this fight, but we will not hesitate to do what we must—any blood will be on your hands. What happened here today is on you, not us." _

The assembled young heroes all glanced at Morwinn, who tried to act unaffected. Behind the façade, though, it was clear she was rattled. "Okay," she said, trying for a flippant tone, "the last part's clear enough, I'll admit. It's the first part I don't get: _'We only seek to claim what is ours by rights…' _Which is what—exactly?"

She seemed to be trying to ignore how close she came to dying, but no one had an answer for her. Nicole, especially, was caught up in her own thoughts—the phrasing of the message was frighteningly familiar, reawakening old fears and memories she'd long-since buried.

_*Anything but that, please. If there is any mercy or pity in this world, let it be anyone but him.*_

**So, yeah. Missions, mayhem, and mysteries abounding! I promise, I do actually know what is going on. Anyway, if you saw something you liked, or something you think I should fix/can improve on, don't hesitate to leave a review and let me know!**


	13. 12 Misunderstandings and Misleadings

**Hello, ModernDayBard here with this week's chapter! As always, I don't own Young Justice or its associated characters. But I do have my oc's and the idea for this plot, and that's enough for me!**

Even a few days later, the events in New York unsettled Nicole. The feeling of dread that had arisen when Aqualad read out the mysterious missive hadn't faded, though she hadn't shared her suspicions with anyone. She told herself that was because she only had her instincts, no hard proof, to go on, but Ember knew better.

She was afraid.

That fear stifled her every time she thought of sharing her theory, and so she kept fabricating excuses. For nearly the first time since Marji had taken her in, Nicole hadn't even confided in her mentor.

* * *

><p>Technically, it was Alpha's shift to be 'on duty' on the Watchtower, but most of Delta had come early, so Ember wasn't surprised at all when Static came up to her, grinning.<p>

"Hey, Ember," he called as he came in earshot, "wake up—it's almost noon!"

It was a joke the two had, and Nicole half-heartedly supplied her usual response: "I wasn't asleep; I was picturing how to wipe the floor with you in training." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew that Virgil would pick up on her dour mood. The words were right, but she'd spoken them in a dispirited monotone—all she could muster at the time.

Completely missing the cue, the younger teen replaced his grin with an exaggerated expression of disappointment which earned a chuckle from Nicole, in spite of her dark musings. "You know," he said, continuing to ham it up, "you're supposed to tell me _before_ a joke gets old so that I drop it."

_*There are definite advantages of befriending the court jester,* _Nicole mused, trying to summon a smile for her friend's sake as she shook her head. "Hey, old jokes are the best—trust me. It's like CS Lewis said: 'You've no idea how good an old joke sounds when you take it out again after a rest of five or six hundred years.'" At Virgil's blank expression, the redhead shrugged. "Hey, _The Last Battle_ was always my favorite."

She tried for a smile, but the result was decidedly sickly, allowing Static to see through her false show of bravado, his humor fading as concern for his friend came to the forefront. "Nicole, are you okay? Is something wrong?"

"I'm just getting tired of having more questions and theories than leads and answers," Ember snapped in a tone much sharper than she'd intended. As the echoes of her half-shout faded, neither spoke. The uneasy silence stretched longer and longer, and the half-truth she'd told began to coil around inside her like a small serpent of guilt and worry.

It soon became clear that she was not the only one feeling uncomfortable. When Virgil finally did speak up, he changed the subject. "Tell you what, Ember: I've always found that bad moods generally can't survive a little friendly competition." Grin widening at her obvious interest, he continued, "I want to see if you still remember those skateboarding tricks I showed you. Up for a show-off contest?"

"Alright," Nicole acquiesced with a shrug, well aware that she needed the distraction.

She deferred to Static, hoping to get some ideas from his routine, but soon began to wonder just what she'd gotten herself into. Even without any boost from his powers, it was obvious he had years' worth of experience on her. Still, Ember gave it her best shot when it was her turn. She knew she couldn't match Static, but at least she was holding her own.

Or at least, she _was_—before an awkward landing where the board skittered off in one direction and she went flying in another. Instinctively, she tried to use the momentum to roll to her feet, but she ended up off-balance and rammed face-first into a wall.

Nicole knew she wasn't hurt, so she did her best to laugh at her own mistake, although it came out as more of an embarrassed chuckle. Reassured that the older teen wasn't injured, Virgil laughed as well as he retrieved the board and prepared to take his second turn.

As if determined to outdo her 'epic fail,' Virgil wiped out as well in spectacular style. Without quite planning it, the two turned the show-off contest into a goof-off exhibition, but it _did_ prove Static right: Nicole's sour mood had been (temporarily) banished.

* * *

><p>Eventually, the two took a break in one of the Watchtower's lounges, when Nicole noticed a deck of cards sitting on the table. Without thinking, she picked them up and began to shuffle, saying, "I may not be that good at skateboard tricks, but I <em>can<em> do a card trick or two."

Virgil leaned forward, interested, and Ember went into 'showman mode'. She started off with 'the Talking Queen,' (one of those 'pick a card, any card') tricks, then regaled him with the story trick 'the Thieving Jacks'. Her repertoire of two now completely exhausted, Nicole kept shuffling the cards.

"I can still remember the first time my brother showed me those tricks. Took me forever to convince him to show me how they worked."

She realized the words she'd said without thinking in the same moment she heard Virgil ask in a confused tone, "Brother? I didn't know you—"

The redhead cut him off abruptly, explaining the rules to a card game she wanted to teach him. The message was loud and clear, and Static understood: the previous topic was in no way safe for him to go near. To Ember's immense relief, he let it drop and concentrated on the game.

The game had the added bonus of bringing out the teens' competitive sides, and soon all family references were forgotten. Eventually, Nicole's familiarity with the game and experience helped her win, though Virgil hadn't made it easy for her. At last, Alpha's 'on duty' time was over.

As she hadn't been sleeping well since New York, Nicole was too exhausted to stick around much longer. Waving farewell to Static, she made her way towards the Zeta Tubes and home.

"Another good idea, Virgil. One of these days, I'm going to have to stop doubting you."

* * *

><p>When Nicole woke the next morning, she had to drag herself out of bed to get ready for work. Instead of her usual, quasi-alert ate of morning wakefulness, she couldn't shake a heavy grogginess that weighed down all four of her limbs. Not even her shower served to penetrate the heavy fog, and she knew it was going to be a <em>long<em> day.

Sadly, this annoying obstacle to her morning routine wasn't anything new. Ever since New York, she'd been sleeping poorly. And it wasn't just the disastrous events or current mission unsettling her, either. Something about that day had triggered thoughts about her brother, worries and questions that perennially arose and threw her off. Where was Karl? What had he been up to? Was he even alive? If he was, why hadn't he tried to find or contact her? She'd left clues only he would know, so it wasn't like he could have lost track of her—could he? Was he okay? Their final, bitter arguments aside, Karl was still her brother, and Nicole was worried about him.

She hadn't told Silver about the thoughts, if only to avoid her mentor's pity. Marji had made it clear that Nicole was not a charity case, but the fleeting expression she could never quite hide when Ember dwelt on her backstory aloud caused some doubt in the teen's mind. Better to keep this to herself, then, and deal with the exhaustion as it came.

Well, regardless of her weariness, she still had responsibilities, both as Ember and as Nicole. Accordingly, she dragged herself over to her closet to pick something appropriate for her day job.

_*Nice blouse, slacks, and flats. Moving at the pace I'm going, I hope I'm not assigned to the coffee shop today. Although, the caffeine might help.*_

Still bleary-eyed and more than a little grouchy after what was, for all intents and purposes, a sleepless night, she stumbled downstairs to grab a quick breakfast before heading out. Adding to her ill-temper was the knowledge that she was already cutting her departure time close. Any more delay, and she'd be late—which would _not_ be an auspicious start to the day.

Marji looked up from her coffee, and was apparently surprised enough by the sight of her protégé that she attempted conversation before her second cup. "Dressed for work already?"

Realizing it was a bad sign that pre-caffeinated Marji was more ready for conversation than she was, Nicole nodded silently.

"Nicole," Marji began in a hesitant tone, with traces of confusion and maybe even a little worry thrown in, "you _do_ realize it's your day off—yes?"

That froze the flame-wielder for a moment, but the nineteen-year-old recovered quickly, squaring her shoulders and responding in a defiant tone, "Of _course_ I did…not." A quick peek over her shoulder confirmed that Silver was still regarding her with a look of wary concern, and Nicole decided it would be best for her to head off any potential prying questions. "Hey, Silver—want to get some training in after breakfast?"

_*Wait—I'm half-asleep and just suggested combat training? Not my most 'whelming' idea. I guess my brain's in the half of me that's still asleep. Still, it worked at distracting Marji…for now.*_

* * *

><p>Actually, her suggestion wasn't <em>that<em> bad of an idea—as always, combat practice provided an adrenaline boost that helped her to achieve full wakefulness. The two followed the same training pattern as before: unarmed, armed, then powers-based.

As the unarmed bouts continued, Ember had a sudden inspiration and began integrating several unique attacks and dodges she'd noticed various members of the Team using in training and on the last mission, tipping the 'win balance' in her favor, for once. The new moves caught Silver's attention, and mentor and protégé stopped 'contest sparring' for forty-five minutes as Nicole showed Marji what the new attacks were and how she'd integrated them into their normal patterns.

"Good job, Nicole, that was really good," Silver said after a brief break. "Let's move on to armed combat, okay?" As she pulled out her favorite staff, Ember pulled out her new pair of reinforced gloves (Silver's birthday present to her) and slipped them on.

Unfortunately, weapons training doesn't go anywhere near as well as unarmed had. Mostly, this was because Nicole's early thoughts and worries about her brother were returning full-force, distracting her as she went through the motions and forms. This lack of focus only served to exacerbate her normal disadvantage in armed sparring, and Silver one all three bouts easily. Embarrassed, the teen hero hoped that powers-based sparring would go better.

It didn't.

For all her effort, her focus was now spinning out of control, and for the first time in a long time, Nicole felt her flames slip from her control, growing beyond the 'safe-level' for practice. Even more frightening: when she tried to pull it back, panic began to claw at her throat, and they flared brighter instead of dimming.

Just before the situation spiraled from merely 'out of control' into 'definitely dangerous', Silver made a tough call. An intense flash of light tore through the practice room, blinding Ember and causing her to sit down, hard. The shock allowed her to release her hold on the fire, and the flames sputtered out harmlessly.

When she could see again, Nicole looked up to see Marji looking at her with the same confused, concerned expression from earlier. Internally, the redhead began bracing herself for a barrage of questions and lectures. If there was one thing she hated more than Marji's pity, it was her disappointment, and old walls began to rebuild slightly.

But when the older young woman spoke, all she said was, "You know, maybe we should take a break, Nicole."

"Fine," was the reply. She wasn't purposefully being rude—it was the only word that could slip past her guard without breaking it down completely.

* * *

><p>Initially, Silver kept up the pretense of this being a normal break as the two grabbed a quick snack at sat in the little 'dining nook.' But they ate in silence, which was a rare occasion for the two young women. Nicole kept her blue eyes focused on her plate, trying not to meet her mentor's eyes, but at last, Marji spoke and Ember knew she couldn't ignore her, as much as she wanted to.<p>

"Nicole, I know you've been under a lot of emotional pressure and stress lately; plus, you're still getting used to being a part of the Team. Nevertheless, you can't let your emotions control your power—_you_ control it and them."

"Understood," Nicole replied in a choked voice barely above a whisper. Part of her felt that she wouldn't mind the corrections so much if Marji actually got angry at her—rage and shouts she could fight, but calm, quiet concern almost undid her. Still, Silver's methods meant that the redhead actually learned and improved, instead of protesting defensively.

Eventually, the flame-wielder looked up to see the older hero smiling t her gently. "I don't think you'll let it happen again; you've always been good about learning from mistakes." The simple affirmation earned a smile from the teen. "I have to ask though: is it the mission with the Team that's been bothering you?"

"No," Nicole managed at last, "that's not what's wrong."

Marji paused, digesting her sidekick's answer for a moment, before nodding emphatically, as if having come to a decision. "You know, Ember, I know it may feel like you're alone in this, but I promise, I understand."

Nicole stared at her mentor, wondering how she could have guessed what was unsettling her. _*Then again, she knows your backstory, genius. The more pertinent question is: how on earth can she claim that she can relate to this situation?* _Aloud, all she said was, "Seriously?" in an extremely incredulous tone.

Marji's grin widened, turning mischievous as she nodded again. "Oh, yes."

Before Nicole could find the right words for her question (or demand, she hadn't quite decided which direction to take it), Silver continued, "so…which of the boys is it?"

Suddenly realizing what her mentor thought was distracting her, Ember's mouth dropped open. Finally, she managed to gasp out: "Oh, trust me, that's not it—you've completely missed the mark." _*I mean, Nightwing's too focused on the mission to—*_ Then Nicole realized was she thinking. _*Wait—what?*_

Marji didn't appear to be convinced at all, still treating her protégé to that knowing, mischievous expression. Looking for an escape, Nicole bolted upstairs, hastily calling down, "I just remembered! Connor asked Alpha to come in a little early and get some training in. I've got to go to the Hall now, or I'll be late. See ya!"

_*Smooth, Nicole, __real__ smooth.*_

* * *

><p>Silver didn't move to stop her protégé, but she shook her head as the teen ran out. She was now convinced it wasn't 'boy drama' at the heart of this issue, but she still knew that something was upsetting her ward. The question was: what?<p>

_*Nicole always tries to pretend that everything's fine; put on a confident show, but this isn't the first time I've been given a perspective on just how conflicted she is. I just wish she'd trust me enough to tell me what's going on...I'm honestly worried about her.*_

**So, yeah. Some more downtime and character development; one of two 'fluff' chapters before the mission takes off again, but I promise: we're almost done! Anyway, if you saw something you liked, or something you think I should fix/can improve on, don't hesitate to leave a review and let me know!**


	14. 13 A Quiet Moment

**Hello, ModernDayBard here with this week's chapter! As always, I don't own Young Justice or its associated characters. But I do have my oc's and the idea for this plot, so I guess I should be grateful!**

_Marji didn't appear to be convinced at all, still treating her protégé to that knowing, mischievous expression. Looking for an escape, Nicole bolted upstairs, hastily calling down, "I just remembered! Connor asked Alpha to come in a little early and get some training in. I've got to go to the Hall now, or I'll be late. See ya!"_

*Smooth, Nicole, real smooth.*

* * *

><p><em>Silver didn't move to stop her protégé, but she shook her head as the teen ran out. She was now convinced it wasn't 'boy drama' at the heart of this issue, but she still knew that something was upsetting her ward. The question was: what?<em>

* * *

><p>Despite the lack of interference from her mentor, Nicole's distracted, unsettled mood refused to fade, even after she arrived at the Hall of Justice. As she wandered the corridors that the public were unable to access in a not-really-aware-of-her-surroundings state, she failed to notice Jaime until she almost ran into him.<p>

Since the training session right before the New York mission, Blue beetle had acted a lot more comfortable around his older friend, hence his smile and more confident tone as he greeted her. "Oh, hey, Nicole!"

"Sorry," Nicole muttered unconsciously crossing her arms, closing herself off, "didn't see you there."

The younger teen's expression quickly changed to one of concern at her unfocused tone—this wasn't like her at all. "Hey, Nicole, are you alright? You seem…well, a bit distracted." _*And guarded…and uncomfortable…and not yourself at all*_ He finished silently, figuring he was pushing his luck with the single spoken observation.

Something in Jaime's question and tone reminded Nicole of Marji, and the redhead bristled, snapping out hastily, "Who says I can't be 'alright' and distracted at the same time?" The minute she spoke, she regretted it. Nothing that was bothering her was Jaime's fault—he was just the victim of bad timing. She hadn't meant to yell at him.

Blue Beetle regarded her silent for a moment, more confused than reassured by her answer. He wasn't offended by her tone—he'd seen the guilty expression that had followed her sharp words. "Uh, sure. If you say so, hermana," he replied at last.

"Sorry," Ember said in reply, carefully trying to regulate her tone so that she sounded more calm and collected. "I didn't mean to be rude. Just been a weird day."

Jaime gave her one final sideways glance before he apparently decided to let it go and change the subject. Nicole was grateful that the younger hero was perceptive enough to know when a subject was unsafe—come to think of it, the whole Team was. It was getting to the point that this was her safe place to come when upset with things she didn't want to talk about. _*Not ready to talk about,*_ she corrected herself. _*Maybe someday…m-maybe someday, I'll actually be ready to admit what I've done.*_

Today, however, was not that 'someday,' so the nineteen-year-old forcibly shoved the thought aside, focusing instead on the various theories about the current mission she and Beetle were discussing. She did keep her darker suspicions to herself, but eventually she let her guard down more as they began more normal small talk. Well, as normal as two teenaged members of a relatively-covert Team of young superheroes dedicated to protecting humanity could manage.

_*Yeah, 'practically normal'—that's us.*_

As the conversation continued, it soon became clear that roles were reversing and Jaime was now the distracting one, getting pulled deeper and deeper into his own introspection. He was obviously upset by something—probably had been the whole time, even when he'd tried to cheer her up, Nicole realized—and finally, he was the one to fall silent.

Wanting to return his favor without prying, Nicole hesitantly spoke. "I'm not an expert, but you seem a bit distracted, too. Anything you want to talk about?"

Beetle didn't meet her gaze at first, reluctant to open up. "It's nothing, hermana. Don't worry about me."

It wasn't 'nothing'—that much was clear. "Hey, maybe I can help, but I won't know unless you tell me."

He sighed, and she could tell form his stance that he'd decided to open up. Unconsciously, she uncrossed her arms and opened up her posture as well. Worried about her brother or no, here was a friend in need, and she wanted to help.

"Ember," Jaime said at last, "how much do you know about my backstory with the Reach?"

"Well," she began, not wanting to make this any harder for him, but not wanting to lie, "pretty much all of it—it's a hard story to miss around here, honestly." She could tell from his expression that he was remembering much of that time—and she knew from what she'd heard that they were not mostly positive memories.

He shook his head, saying with a frustrated undertone, "There was so much we didn't know—that we had to guess." Nicole nodded, having heard the same sentiment from many members of the team that had been involved with what had since been dubbed the 'Reach Debacle'. Jaime continued, "I just can't shake the feeling that we're replaying the story."

The frustrated tension in the air was palpable whenever the mission came up in conversation, so Nicole definitely saw what her friend was getting at. They stood quietly, enveloped by awkwardness and silence until he finally shook his head and tried (unsuccessfully) to summon a genuine smile. "But don't mind me, Nicole—I'm supposed to be cheering you up!"

"We'll all definitely feel better when this is over," Nicole observed, trying to muster a confident, reassuring tone. They held each other's gaze, knowing how flimsy their own bravado was, and seeing the same shakiness reflected in each other's eyes.

"Well," Beetle managed at last. "At least we know it's _not_ the Reach."

Ember nodded, but couldn't stop her next observation before the words were out of her mouth: "We should count our blessings, I suppose, but I'd feel better if we knew who it _is_ instead of who it _isn't_."

* * *

><p>Nightwing and Aqualad worked side-by-side at a the computer bank in the 'behind-the-scenes' area of the Hall of Justice, hoping the change of venues would help them notice something they'd overlooked previously. Both turned at the sound of footsteps behind them to see Nicole standing in the doorway, in civilian clothes. Upon making eye contact, she shrugged, offering: "I came to the Hall early. Jaime said I could find you here," as an explanation.<p>

With that, she walked right up to them and stood right in between the two, taking in the information scrolling across the computer screens, instinctively joining the search for patterns. Kaldur grinned over at the two beside them, seemingly hard at work, but both occasionally glancing at each other. It seemed that they needed a little push of some sort. Taking a few steps back, he managed to mask his grin as he said, "I want to cross-check something in the library; I might be a while. Do not be afraid to take a break—you have been working for a while." And with that, he beat a hasty retreat, hoping Nicole would help his friend unwind.

For a while, the two worked in silence, Nicole filtering the data through what she knew of some criminals and former criminals that might not have been operating on a level that would put them on either the League's or Team's radar. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to confirm or deny her suspicion, but she didn't think that her own indecision was the root cause of her inability to concentrate.

Nicole stole a glance at the detective hard at work beside her, a bit confused and embarrassed at the fact that she was so flustered and uncertain—something that was certainly _not_ like her. Well, there was nothing else for it but to forge ahead, for it seemed that Nightwing was not going to be taking any initiative—or breaks—until he felt that the mission was well and truly over.

_*Well, let's see what I can do about that.*_

Summoning what courage she could, Nicole grabbed Nightwing's arm and started dragging him away from the computers. "You heard what Aqualad said. Besides—when was the last time you actually took a break?" She didn't expect a verbal response, especially since the tired expression on his haggard face was answer enough for her. "One hour—would that kill you? Frankly, I'm of the opinion that the opposite will prove to be true. Besides, it's not like there's nobody else working on this: we're all trying to get to the truth."

Nightwing continued to hesitate, but Nicole could tell he was close to acquiescing—if only to guarantee the possibility of peaceful concentration later. "Look, if you're not concerned enough about your own health and well-being to listen to common sense, will you at least listen for my sake?"

Nightwing gave her a half-smug, half-confused look. "Why? What's at stake for you?"

Nicole prayed she wasn't blushing as she brusquely responded: "Call it peace of mind. Are you coming or not?"

Fortunately, he stopped resisting her, and she was able to lead him out of the room and to the galley without a further struggle. When they both sat down with their respective plates in the otherwise empty room, Nicole couldn't help chuckling a little at the amount the detective had grabbed. "Are you trying to beat KF's record or something?"

"I guess I hadn't realized that the eat-on-the-job plan I had was this inadequate until now," he admitted sheepishly, then, in an even quieter voice: "Thanks, Nicole."

She shrugged noncommittally, trying to disguise how pleased she was. "What else are friends for?"

Nightwing laughed a little at that. "What does it say then, that you're the only person whoever insists?"

"I...I don't think it's a good idea for me to answer that."

"Meaning that you don't have a clever response."

Nicole had to laugh at that. "Yes, exactly." She shook her head. "You know, that may not have been my best cover-up, but still: I'm not used to people being able to see through me like that."

Nightwing grinned at across the table at her. "I know the feeling."

Just for a moment, Nicole considered pushing her luck and asking him out—after all, he seemed to be in a better mood than he'd been in for days—but something told her that the timing wasn't just quite yet. Of all the boys on the Team, Nightwing was the most focused on the mission, the one who had the most riding on it personally. Until they had the mastermind in custody, the time wouldn't be right—no matter the detective's moods—and she'd just have to live with it.

_*Just what I get for crushing on the workaholic on the Team...*_

**So, yeah. More fluff, but I promise: that is it with fluff (or at least, pure fluff) from here to the end of the story. From now on, most chapters will have a little bit sprinkled in, but the majority of developments will be plot/character. We're almost done, guys! Anyway, if you saw something you liked, or something you think I should fix/can improve on, don't hesitate to leave a review and let me know!**


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